Perspectives
by markaleen
Summary: Both Alex and Elaine's perspectives (and some of my own continuations) of events that happened between them throughout the series. Camp NaNoWriMo July 2013
1. Like Father, Like Daughter

**I don't own any of the characters or media from Taxi. All rights go to those affiliated with it.**

**This was written for Camp NaNoWriMo July 2013.**

**This story is very heavily based on episodes and contain the actual lines from the show, so if you are new to the series and don't want any spoilers then I'd wait before reading. These are my own interpretations and additions. -markaleen**

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_**Like Father, Like Daughter**_

_**Elaine: **_ "Here it goes." I said to myself before walking in to the Sunshine Cab Company for the first time. I was filled with nerves and excitement at the same time. I was nervous because it was the first day of a new job of course; but mostly because with everything said about New York cab drivers, I was a bit afraid of the people who would be surrounding me. Not to mention the bit of worry of becoming one. But I was excited because when you drive people around in New York City there's no telling who you might meet. Celebrities, maybe royalty? Okay, maybe not, but you never know. Even just a regular person who's had an interesting life. But, there's also fear that goes with the thought. _What if I pick up someone who wants to hurt me or rob me? Or __**both**__? _I kept wondering. I just had to continue to remind myself to push those thoughts out of my head. Finally, I held my head up high and entered the building. There was a man in an office that looked more like a cage. He was, unfortunately, the first person I chose to speak too.

"Excuse me? My name is Elaine Nardo." I said as I approached the man in the cage. "They told me to ask for Louie."

The man pushed back his hair and smiled as I spoke and then said, "Yes ma'am, I'm Louie DePalma. I hope there's no trouble and if there is, I'd be glad to help in any way I can." He seemed sincere. I smiled back and replied. "Oh no, it's just that they told me I'd be starting work today as a driver. Oh, here's my hack license-" It was like something inside him flipped a switch. The sweet man I had just met became nasty. His smile disappeared as he angrily said, "You're a cab driver?! What do ya mean bustin' my chops here, makin' believe you're a regular person!" He pointed to a table in the middle of the room. "Go wait over there until I call your name and number. Until then keep your mouth shut!" he yelled. I was completely appalled. How dare he speak to me- or anyone for that matter, like that! There was no way I was going to put up with it. I scowled at him as I said (perhaps this was risky given it was my first day), "What's wrong, don't they feed you in there?" He sarcastically laughed as I walked over to the table. He then called me back to give me a form to fill out, leading to, of course, his comeback, "…and I hope you fill it out better than you fill out your pants." I took the form as I rolled my eyes and walked back to the table. "See? We're all fun here." He concluded. I wasn't feeling too hopeful about the people. The rumors about cab drivers being nasty were already appearing to be true and I hadn't been there two minutes.

There was another man sitting at, well actually on, the table. "You mustn't be too upset with Louie, miss. He's really a very nice guy- he'd give you the scales off his back." I stopped myself from laughing. "Well," I began. "I don't have to worry too much about him. I'm only going to be working here part time." He just said, "oh." I went on, "Yeah I have this other job where-" "Oh." He said again. Was I boring him already? I was off to a bad start. He went on, "Yeah, yeah I know. We're **all **part time here. I'm part time; I only work sixty hours a week." I had to defend myself. "No, really. I really work as a receptionist at an art gallery. I'm not really a taxi driver." No way was I going to let 'taxi driver' become my new title. I didn't even want to work there but I was recently divorced and raising two young children alone. What other choice did I have? I needed to support my family. Even if it meant being a taxi driver- a **part time** taxi driver. "Oh no, I understand;" he said. Then he began pointing around to different people in the garage. "You see that guy over there? Now he's an actor. The guy on the phone: he's a prize fighter. This lady over here: she's a beautician. Man behind her: he's a writer. Me: I'm a cab driver. I'm the only cab driver in this place." All I could think was _wow_. What had I gotten myself into? I found myself asking out loud, "Why is everyone here just a little angry?"

Before I got an answer, the prize fighter distracted this man I'd been talking too. He was making some crazy phone call because the tray on the phone was broken so you could get your money back and call anywhere for free. The man stood up and said, "Oh, excuse me miss. You're a very interesting person but I'm not sure you're as interesting as a massage parlor in Bangkok." I shrugged as I joked, "Well don't be too sure 'til you know me better." I quickly regretted those words. The man turned around and suddenly looked more curious than he had during our whole conversation. I slightly panicked and hastily corrected, "No, no, I'm kidding! Really. I'm not serious, I'm all talk, really, I'm all talk, really." I focused on the form I had yet to fill out in order to break eye contact. What a place this was turning out to be.

_**Alex: **__She'll be interesting to have around, _I thought as I walked over to the guys to listen to Tony's conversation with someone from that Bangkok massage parlor. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her; she seemed like a sweet young woman. I'd seen so many people come in to this place starting out as part time. Slowly over time they pick up more hours and eventually this becomes their life. Not once had I ever seen someone make it out successfully. It has to be hard. I guess that's the good thing about coming here with the intention and knowledge of only being a cab driver. Though I'm sure she's thinking that I'm the pathetic one with no greater ambitious. Not to say she's pathetic, not at all._ I just hope she won't be stuck here forever like the others_. Then it stuck me funny how much thought I was giving the subject. I didn't even know her name, nor did she know mine. I tried to refocus on the phone call that Tony was making.

_**Elaine: **_I had pretty much blocked out everything else that was going on. My luck hadn't been too great so far and I just wanted to focus on the form I was filling out. Not that it was too interesting. Name… Age… the usual. Something did catch my ear though. I heard the guys trying to get Alex (I assumed his name was Alex, I kept hearing the others call him by that name) to make a phone call. He said that he was thinking about calling his daughter. This was news to them. The part that really caught my attention was when he admitted that he hadn't spoken to her in fifteen years. "**Fifteen years**?!" I blurted out in shock. I'm pretty sure he was mocking the way I had spoken when he repeated, "Yeah, **fifteen years**." I was still in complete shock as I remarked, "My ex-husband was right. He's **not **the worst there is." Perhaps that was a bit harsh, but can you blame me? Here I was newly divorced and hearing something like this.

"Oh, so you made up your mind about me already, huh?" he said, offended. "'I'm a heel, I abandoned my daughter' now you're gonna shun me."

"Well, let's put it this way. I'd rather be stranded on a dessert island with him." I turned around and pointed to Louie who was still in his cage. I'm not sure if he had been listening the whole time, but he was quick to say, "Don't you wish!"

_**Alex: **__She's got a nerve! _Maybe I shouldn't have bothered defending myself. Why did I care what this woman thought of me? She had clearly made her mind up about me. And those art people were usually snobby anyway. Why should I waste my time defending myself to someone like her? I suppose there's no point in wondering because I defended myself anyways. "Now wait a minute, listen miss-" I couldn't keep calling her miss so I looked at her name on the paper before I continued. "Elaine Nardo. You know things aren't always as bad as they seem. Divorced mothers taking care of their children against incredible odds while the men are free to stay out all night, join a gym, and take advantage of girls named Debbie. Now look, my wife for example: she married this gentleman from South America, moved there with the kid and told me that if I really loved my daughter I wouldn't contact her; because it would cause too much confusion. She told me that if I really wanted to be a good father I would allow this gentleman, from South America to adopt her. Show you what a… how smart I was, I bought it." I hadn't intended on going into that much detail, but it did feel good to finally get out. I had been holding that in for fifteen years.

_**Elaine: **_Now I felt bad. Sort of. "I'm sorry about what I said before. You're not a heel… you're a jerk." How could he have let his wife do that to him? Well, I guess it's not my place to wonder; I just met the man five minutes ago and knew nothing about his wife. But I just can't imagine not speaking to either of my kids for fifteen years. _I don't care if I'm new here or not, I have to help him._

_**Alex: **_'Jerk'? oh, that was much better. Sarcastically, I replied, "I accept your apology." I got up and began walking away. It wasn't worth anymore of my time. But she turned around and said, "A giant jerk. Listen, no matter what you agreed to before it shouldn't stop you from picking up that phone right now and calling your daughter." At this point Louie chimed in, "Leave the man alone. If he doesn't give a damn about his kid that's his business." I would have been happy if he hadn't said that I didn't give a damn about my kid. I did. I **do**. "Now wait a minute!" I shouted. "Alright, call her. I'll call her tomorrow when the line isn't so long." I think Louie, Elaine, and I were the only ones who weren't in line. Not including Bobby, Tony, and John who had already made their calls. It was like the parting of the Red Sea. The line suddenly broke into two lines with a pathway to the phone. Elaine stood up and took me by the arm and walked me to the phone as she said, "You are going to feel **so **much better, I promise you." I couldn't help but look around at the people on each side and then again at Elaine on my arm. "I feel like we're getting married in Annapolis!"

As annoyed and even a bit scared as I was, I'm glad she convinced me to call Cathy. I'm also glad I drove and met her in Miami. If Elaine hadn't come into my life that day I may have never seen Cathy again. Maybe having Elaine around wasn't going to be as bad as I had started to think.

_**Elaine: **_It was a rocky start but once I got to know everyone (with the exception of Louie) I knew I was going to like working there. I never expected that these guys would become my closest friends.


	2. Come As You Aren't

_**Come As You Aren't**_

_**Alex: **__I can't believe that Elaine wants me to lie for her. I don't care how she puts it, it's still lying. _

Here's what happened.

Elaine came to me this one day with- a problem? I guess it was, but it took me little while to understand why. She pulled me aside and said, "I feel really strange." She began and to which I responded, "Why, what is it?" She went on, "Well, you know that art gallery where I work part time and where they treat me like I was some sort of receptionist?"

"Yeah, you mean the place where you work as a receptionist." I answered.

"Yeah…" she said before going on, "Well, they let me design their new window display for the new exhibit; and everybody loved what I did. And now it's just staring out on Madison Avenue. People are even congratulating me."

Here's where I was confused. "Well no wonder you're down. You just realized your lifelong ambition."

"I know… but I mean it just doesn't seem like my life you know? Things like this never happen to me." She put her bag down on the bench. "That's why I got a little crazy and I pushed. I invited them all to a party… and they accepted." She sat down as I said, still confused, "Oh hey, it sounds like you're on a roll. Let me know how it turns out." I smiled as I put my foot up on the bench. She looked at me a bit nervously and asked, "I was kinda hoping that maybe you'd come. See, I'd really like to have one person there that I don't care about impressing." _Gee, thanks_. I thought before saying, "How can I turn down an invitation like that." She smiled guiltily. "Yeah… and uh, one more thing… when you're at the party, can you remember that nobody knows that I'm a cab driver?" I just looked at her as she went on, "See, if they knew that I drove a cab at night they may find it a little usual. I can't afford to be unusual yet." I sat down next to her. Honestly, I was a bit shocked at what I was hearing. True, I hadn't known Elaine very long. Only a couple months actually; but I never expected this from her. I even said to her, "So you actually lie about your job?" Her response to that was, "I don't lie… I fudge. I'm kinda hoping that maybe you won't tell them that you're a cab driver either."

I didn't hesitate to say 'no', "I won't do that Elaine." There was absolutely no way I was going to go to a party and lie to a bunch of upper class people. Never mind just upper class people, **anybody**. "It's one little thing!" she said. "Nope." I said as I stood up and walked away. She followed me as I said, "It's not just one little thing."

_**Elaine: **_"Hey, sure it is. Ask anybody!" _What is his problem? I'm not asking him to show up in a disguise or anything. I just can't have him tell everyone- or anyone, that he's a cab driver. They'll all wonder why a cab driver is at my party. Even if they didn't connect it to me also being on, it would still make me look bad. Not that it makes Alex a bad person for being a cab driver; it's just that everyone else might not take the time to get to know him. They'll hear 'cab driver' and make their minds up about him._

I approached the guys sitting at the table. "Hey guys, can you believe him? He won't tell one little lie for me." John then mentioned something about how his father used to tell him to remember his father's words. It turned out to be a George Bernard Shaw quote, which of course distracted them. I took that opportunity to walk over to Alex. "Alex, can we talk about this?" I was desperate. He shook his head as Tony asked, "What do you want him to lie about? Maybe I can do it for you." Here's when things really got messy. "I'm throwing a party Friday night." I instantly wished I hadn't said that. John asked, "Why are you having a party on Friday night? We're all going to miss a lot of business." I tried to explain. "Actually guys, uh, this is a party I'm throwing for the people at my art gallery." Tony shrugged, "Who cares, the more the merrier, right?" I then turned to Alex, "They don't understand."

"Oh I get it…" John said with hurt in his voice, "We're not invited." Tony looked at me, "How come we can't come to the party too?" Bobby answered, dramatically I might add, "'Cause we're nobodies. We're stupid, ignorant, low life cabbies." I felt bad, but inviting them would make things even worse. The last thing I needed was a group of cab drivers telling my superiors that I was one of them. I just couldn't let that happen. Alex asked Latka what he thought. "If they don't come, I don't come." He said, to which I responded, "I'm sorry, they can't come."

"Alright, then I come without them." I rolled my eyes as I yelled, "Alright, alright you can come! If it means that much to you. If it doesn't matter to you that you could screw me up with my bosses, or ruin the one chance I have to send my kids to a decent school, then by all means just come to my party." I gave up. They were making me feel way too guilty, and they were my friends. Though, I was hoping that with my last sentiment that they'd feel guilty and not come. I realized no such luck as Tony asked, "What's the address?" All I could do now was hope for the best. Before they left Bobby pulled me aside and assured me that no one would find out they were taxi drivers. There was some relief. To be honest I trusted them more than Alex. Besides, they had other careers. Bobby was an actor, Tony was a boxer, John was a student, and Latka… well all I could do was hope. Now I just had to get Alex to cooperate.

_**Alex: **_I arrived at Elaine's exactly when she told me too, six thirty. To my surprise no one was there. I asked her if I had gotten the wrong night. Her answer was, "No, this is the night."

"Well, don't bother to introduce me, I'll just mingle." I joked, continuing it by pretending to say hello and shake hands with people. "I played a little trick on you Alex," she admitted. "I told you the wrong time so that you'd get here early." I looked at her with confusion as I said, "Great trick… why?" She answered, "Well see, you're doing me a favor. Now that you're here no one has to go through the embarrassment of arriving first." She was now getting something from the kitchen as she concluded, "You know how uncomfortable that can be." I stood in the middle of the living room, looking around and taking a moment before I responded. Sarcastically I said, "I can only imagine." _Thank you Elaine, _I thought. _The party hasn't even started yet and I'm already ready for it to be over. First you want me to lie and now this_. I didn't want to give it too much thought though. She was clearly nervous. She went on saying how she also wanted someone to tell her how nice the place looked. I admit it was fun messing with her a bit by not responding right away. I did once she said, "You can start anytime…" I then told her that everything looked great and then started pointing around the room and saying I liked whatever I had been pointing too. When I looked at the food I said, "And I really like **this**."

Elaine continued to ask my opinion on things, like if there was anything she had over looked, if I had ever heard of Betty's Vodka (to which I rolled my eyes), things like that. Then Latka arrived in his greasy overalls, leading to her asking me if I thought it'd be okay to have him at the party. Once again she asked me if everything looked okay. I answered, "Elaine, believe me, the apartment looks wonderful. Now will you just relax?"

_**Elaine: **__He's right; I really do need to relax._ I smiled, "Okay, okay. You know, you may not believe this but I've really calmed a lot since you got here." _I'm no longer biting my nails and talking to myself… _"Yeah I can see that." He replied halfheartedly.

Now came the part I had been dreading. I took a deep breath before saying, "Um… but could I just ask you one more little favor?"

"Yup." He answered as he was putting some things on the table for me. I took another breath, "If you tell these people you're a cab driver then they're gonna ask you how you know me and you'll have to give everything away." He was mad; I guess I couldn't blame him. But I really wished that he would have looked at the situation from my point of view.

"Elaine, is that the real reason you got me over here early, huh? Oh come on." He started walking to the other side of the room. "How could you do that?" I followed, "Come on Alex, this is a cocktail party." Once again I was very annoyed. "Why do you have to come on so super ethical anyway?" I asked, and he answered, "I am not ethical Elaine! I am… chicken. I don't lie for the simple reason I am afraid of getting caught. There's nothing more embarrassing than getting caught in a lie. Besides, if you don't lie you don't have to try to remember what you said." I just rolled my eyes and gave up. I sighed, "Okay, okay… if it happens it happens." I turned to walk away but he grabbed my arm and turned me around. "Alright, alright… I'm not gonna lie, but I won't say anything if I'm not asked. Okay?" I smiled and nodded. _I guess I can live with that_. "Okay, thanks." Right then the doorbell rang; I kissed his cheek and then went to open the door. Latka again, in clean overalls. This was going to be a very interesting night.

_**Alex: **_The party seemed to be going well. I know because I was bored out of my mind. I could tell that Bobby, Tony, and John felt the same way. Latka seemed to be enjoying himself though. Elaine had asked me to fix a salad, _finally, this is the most fun I've had all evening. _Elaine tried to get the guys to mingle, but they had no interest. I sadly watched them leave. Once I was done with the salad I'd be forced to mingle myself. Not that I don't like meeting new people, I just wanted to avoid anyone asking me what I did for a living. Even though I refused to lie, I did understand the situation Elaine was in, so if I avoided people, I'd avoid any questions. Unfortunately, avoiding people at a party is a very difficult thing to do. Elaine noticed my jealous stare as I watched the guys leave. "Stop envying them." She scolded. I finished the salad and walked over to where Latka was sitting. Right as I got there Elaine rushed over to me. "Alex…" she nervously grabbed my arm. "One of the biggest art dealers in New York just asked my opinion of an exhibit."

"Oh terrific," I said encouraging her, knowing she was in a panic, "give it." Apparently, that thought hadn't occurred to her. As she began heading back to the person she was talking too, Latka stopped her. Lucky him, he met someone. Now I felt really alone, I was the only one left. Well me and all of Elaine's art world friends. Yeah Elaine was there too but she was far too busy being the hostess. _That's it, I'm not going to just stand here by myself… or maybe I'll just go get more food_. As I was walking someone stopped me. "Boy, this champagne is terrific, huh? I wonder what kind it is." I took a sip from my glass and answered, "Del Monte." Elaine had told me early on that it was canned champagne. The man continued to speak, "My name is Paul, I write for Art News." I was beginning to get nervous, hoping I could get by without having to mention my being a cab driver. "I'm Alex." I shook his hand as he asked me the dreaded question. "What do you do, Alex?" I tried to avoid answering by responding with, "Oh, this and that." He wasn't going to take that as an answer. "Sounds interesting… 'this and that' what?" I continued to not answer. "I uh… sort of freelance." I was definitely confusing Paul. "You're a freelance painter?"

"No." I said. Unfortunately, Elaine was behind me. She gave me a serious look and sternly mumbled my name. "Okay Elaine… you win." I had to think of something fast. "I put out oil fires." What? It was short notice.

_**Elaine: **__Thank goodness… _I was so relieved. I appreciated him doing that for me. I knew it wasn't easy. The party was going so well that I couldn't let being a cab driver ruin it. Alex went on with his firefighter act. He even admitted that he was enjoying it. He had met a beautiful woman who had quickly taken all of his attention. Now everything was perfect. My nerves had subsided and the party was a hit. Nothing could go wrong.

And then it did. A few nights earlier, I had had a fight with one of my fares. Nasty man. He accused me trying to jack up the fare. I even said we could go back to the beginning and start all over. His response? "Thanks, but I've already seen Jersey." I wanted the creep out of my cab. I even resorted to yelling 'rape' out of my window. Apparently he was the national secretary of the Gay Liberation Force, so I just surrendered and took him the way he wanted. Of course he didn't pay the entire fare. Well guess who walked into my party? You guessed it. And I was worried about Alex blowing the 'I'm a cab driver' secret? I ran over to Alex in a frenzy. "Alex!" I panicked. "That guy is the same guy I had a fight with in front of the gallery the other night."

"Oh really? That's nice." He replied. Clearly he was too busy with this woman to even hear a word I said. But I continued anyway, "In my **cab**!" That got his attention. He pushed me aside and out of earshot of the woman. Rita I think her name was. I went on, "He must be a friend of Mrs. Hazeltine's. Oh no…" I began to hyperventilate I was so worried. Just then Mrs. Hazeltine brought the man over to meet me. _It was nice while it lasted_. "Elaine, I'd like you to meet my very dear friend, James Broderick." He extended his hand as he said, "How do you do?" I shook his hand and nervously smiled, "We've met." I said assuming he'd notice me one he heard my voice. "We have?" James asked. I was stunned, "Haven't we?" He looked as confused as I must have. "I'm sorry, I don't place you." I was relieved. "Oh, my mistake." I said with a smile. I was trying as best as I could to hide the relief in my voice as I went on. "Well, I'm so glad that you could come. Would you help yourself to some refreshments?" As James and Mrs. Hazeltime went to the food table, I stopped myself from squealing as I went back over to Alex (who had wandered back over to Rita when I was talking to James). "He didn't recognize me!" I said in a hush squeal. "Oh that's terrific." He said trying to brush me off. I didn't care that he was busy, I went on. "He looked right into my face and there was no sign of recognition. He didn't know me!" I turned to walk away but stopped. My newfound good mood had vanished. "He didn't know me?" Now Alex was paying attention, "Elaine, what are you doing?" He asked nervously. I angrily turned back to Alex. "I'll never forget him. **Never**. I mean we really had a fight. I can't believe he looked through me like that. I was **nothing** to him! Just a faceless cab driver." Was that how the guys felt when I told them they couldn't come to my party? How rotten of me!

Alex was panicking now. "Elaine, please." He grumbled, worrying that Rita had heard me use the 'C.D." word. I didn't care who heard now. "He needs a reminder." I started rushing in James' direction but Alex cut in front of me and stopped me. "Elaine, Elaine… now a lot of people aren't happy unless they screw things up that are really going well. This is a very nice party. I mean, these people are very important to you. I'm even trying to enjoy myself. Elaine, why don't you just forget him. Hmm?" I wasn't listening. I wanted that guy to know who he was messing with. Alex wasn't going to relax until I did. "Elaine." He said again. "Take a deep breath." I took a quick breath. "Take a deeper one." So I did. "That's my girl." He smiled. "Thanks." I said. Just when Alex thought I was alright, I showed him otherwise. I yelled across the room, "So you don't remember me, huh?!" James looked around the room and then realized I was talking to him. "Sure I do, I just met you thirty seconds ago." He defended. I walked over to him with my hands on my hips. Still raising my voice I proceeded. "I picked you up in my taxi four nights ago on Madison Avenue." Alex was still trying to impress Rita, so he was no help when he gasped and said, "She's a **taxi driver**!" I ignored him. There was no stopping me now. I went on, "And you accused me of trying to cheat you on a fare." James was in utter shock. "That was **you**?"

"That was me." I nodded. "How can you yell into a face for fifteen minutes and then forget the face you yelled into?" Mrs. Hazeltine spoke up, "Do you really mean it? You're a **cab **driver?" She was completely stunned, as was everyone else in the room. I proudly answered, "Yes I am."

"I find that rather hard to believe." Mrs. Hazeltine said. I shrugged, "Well I am. Alex and I are both cab drivers."

_**Alex: **__I can't believe this night. Elaine begs and begs me to lie for her. I finally do and then she tells everyone we're both cab drivers. I should have never given in. I hope she doesn't expect me to lie for her again. _I was mad, and rightly so. The worst part was that she wasn't letting me leave until we made up. "You're gonna stay here until we're friends again." She insisted. I just grumbled, "Then we'll both grow old together." _Does she really expect me to forgive her just like that? _"Well if it means anything to you," she began, "I just want you to know that I will always be grateful that you taught me to simply tell the truth."

"Elaine…" I continued to grumble, but she went on. "I only wish the truth worked for you too." I gave her a cold and stern look, "I'm not going to talk to you about it."

_**Elaine: **_ "At least yell at me, that'll make you feel better." _He's only doing this to make me feel even worse. I __**do **__feel bad. I didn't plan on this happening. I didn't mean to ruin his chances with Rita, especially after he gave in and lied for me. _He wasn't going to talk about it, but that didn't mean I wasn't. "What I don't understand is what's the big deal about it?" I did understand why he was upset, but he was really mad. And not even about the fact I had made him lie and then made him get caught in it- he's mad about losing that Rita. Alex answered me saying that a man waits all his life for a woman like her. I didn't see it. "What's so great about her?"

"What's so great about her?" he repeated. "She's the kind of woman that only firefighters get…" Part of me wanted to say 'big deal' but I guess it's something at only men understood. Instead I tried to make him feel better. "You know, I have a feeling you're gonna hear from her again. Yeah, I could sort of tell by from the way she acted towards the end."

"She called me garbage."

"There you go! Hey, you know how woman feel about garbage. Always wondering if what you've thrown out was important so you start digging through it 'til you find it again?"

_**Alex: **_ I stopped her. "Elaine, don't try to make me feel better, okay? Let's just go back to my sitting here and you looking at me feeling awful." _She will never understand._ "She spit on my shoes." I thought aloud. "What I really feel bad about is how great everything turned out for me." She started. "People admiring how I hold down two jobs to support my family, and saying how great I am, you know? How terrific and open and honest I am for telling people I'm a cab driver. Hey, even that fare turned out to be a great guy. Forcing that tip on me? This is gonna pay for the party!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was the one who wanted to tell the truth from the beginning, how did everything work out for her and not for me? "I'm leaving." I stood up and began rushing towards the door.

_**Elaine: **_I stood up and followed him. "Alex, please forgive me! Oh… I can't believe you won't forgive me. I'll die if you don't forgive me!" _What if he doesn't want to be friends anymore? What if after tonight we never speak again? No, no. He can't leave without me knowing for sure that we're okay. I haven't known him long, I know, but he does mean a lot to me. _Suddenly I heard myself say, "Oh Alex… You may be my best friend."

_**Alex: **_I was halfway out the door when I heard her call me her best friend. I stopped and turned to her. I could tell by the look on her face and by the tone of her voice that she was being sincere. _Okay… maybe the night wasn't as bad as I'm making it. _I sighed as I shut the door. "I forgive you." She was very happy to hear those words. She jumped up and hugged me. With her arms still around me, she looked at me saying, "Do you mean it?" she then joked, "I don't know with all those wild stories you're telling, you know?" I couldn't help but chuckle along with her. "Yes I forgive you," I said. "Ahh, from now on I'm gonna have to go back to telling the truth. **Only **the truth." I opened the door again and then said, sarcastically, before I left, "Thank you for inviting me to your party Elaine. I had a **wonderful **time."


	3. A Full House For Christmas

_**A Full House For Christmas**_

_**Elaine: **_It was going to be my first Christmas without my children. I was pretty depressed. But I was also kind of excited because it was going to be my first Christmas with the guys at the garage. Over the past several months I had grown very close to them. In fact, they had become my closest friends. I went out and got them each gifts assuming that they exchanged them. Oops. When I brought it up to them I could tell by their reaction that they didn't really celebrate. I even asked them, "What's wrong? You do exchange Christmas gifts don't you?" Tony answered, "We do now." The garage hadn't been planning to celebrate but a lot of us were down so we figured 'why not?' I certainly liked the idea.

_**Alex: **_I hadn't enjoyed Christmas since my daughter was a baby, but that changed during the garage's first Christmas party. Elaine did a wonderful job decorating the place. I'll admit though, it was an intense start. Louie's brother Nick had come to town and all Louie wanted him to do was visit their mother. He did for all of two minutes. He was far more interested in gambling. Well this guy was good. He was **very **good. He had wiped out nearly everyone in the garage- except me. Not to be boastful but I'm pretty good at poker. Louie knew this about me and challenged Nick to a poker game. Louie was my bankroll. I thought that meant he was using **his **money. I didn't find out until towards the end (when thing started really heating up) that Louie- I, had been playing with the company's money. The bets began including watches, plane tickets, Nick taking Louie's and his mother to Las Vagas, even Tony's shoes. I was pretty confident in my hand, but as I said before, this guy was good. There was no telling what was up his sleeve. To make a very long story short, I won. Boy was I relieved. In the end everyone was happy; with the exception of Nick of course. I didn't have high hopes for the party but it was great. As I said before, Elaine did a wonderful job putting it together. Another thing, I liked the whole exchanging gifts idea.


	4. Elaine and the Lame Duck

_**Elaine and the Lame Duck**_

_**Alex: **_I had picked up Congressman Walter Griswald in my cab one night. The poor man, he was… a bum. At first look anyway. He seemed like a good guy once you got to know him. I felt sorry for him, his date made it clear that she wanted to get away from him. Obviously, he was feeling pretty down after that. I took him back to the garage to turn in my receipts and then I figured he and I would go out for a beer. We had to wait for a while at the garage because Louie was gone; he had taken his mother to a dentist that only works nights, but I'm not going to get into that. He met the guys and he ended up pouring his heart out to us. All the poor guy wanted was a woman who wouldn't treat him like dirt. I knew a woman like that, and as luck would have it she had just walked through the door.

_**Elaine: **_So, Alex set me up with this Congressman named Walter Griswald. At first I was pretty mad at him. He had just met this guy, maybe there was a reason he had bad luck with woman? He told me to go easy on Walter. I had no problem going easy on Walter, but Alex on the other hand…

I went out for dinner with Walter. It was awkward at first because he was clearly nervous. No, nervous is too weak of a term. Paranoid is more like it. He kept talking about sweat, his menu caught on fire, things like that. The guys must have known Walter would be nervous because they stopped by to check on us. Normally something like that would have annoyed me but this time it was a relief. Later on Walter expected me to say that I never wanted to see him again. I wouldn't have chosen those words exactly… but I wasn't jumping up and down to make another date with him. He kept asking me if I was free tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that. I kept saying I was busy or 'that's a bad day'. He was fully aware of what I was doing. I felt really bad, so I finally said that Tuesday would be fine. "What's wrong with you?" he asked me. I was worried about what I had just gotten myself in to. Surprisingly, it worked out. I continued to see him. He wasn't a bad man, just anxious; which was kind of endearing actually. But as time went on I started to feel like the relationship was going too fast. I was also feeling like I didn't want to be in a relationship with Walter. Since Alex was the one who got me and Walter together, he was the first one I thought to go too. (I probably would have gone to him anyway)

I pulled Alex away from the other guys. "Alex, I need your advice." I said. I rolled my eyes as the guys all 'oooed'. I sat down at the table as Alex said, "Okay, unless it's about you and Walter because I don't want to get in the middle of that." Nervously I said, "It's about me and Walter."

"Alright, if you just want to talk and there's no big stuff."

"It's gigantic stuff."

"Well as long as it doesn't get really intimate…" This was taking forever. "You can't get more intimate." He wasn't getting out of this and he knew it. "In that case shoot." He sat down as well and I began. "Well… I guess everybody's really curious about why I'm seeing him so much." Alex shrugged, "Well I'm not, I understand." I was surprised. "Yeah?" Again he shrugged, "Yeah." I smiled and went on. "I mean, he's not the man of my dreams but I like him. I guess I like him for the same reason I drawn to that scrawny little puppy in the pet store, you know that nobody else wants." Alex smiled, "Whatever your reasons I gotta hand it to you Elaine. You know, dating you has really changed Walter? He seems like he's got a lot more confidence in himself now. You know that?" I was still smiling, "I know, you're right. He is such a sweet guy." I then told Alex about how a few days ago about how my daughter, Jennifer, had come home upset because three of her best friends were going to see The Nutcracker without her. I told him how seeing how upset Jennifer was made Walter tear up. And then I told Alex that I had to break up with Walter… "Oh, Elaine no!" he said. I put my hands on my head, "I know, Alex, I'm sorry. I have no choice. Walter's beginning to make certain suggestions."

"Like what?" Alex asked, and I answered outright, "Like 'how 'bout a roll in the hay?'." Alex sat up, "Walter's suggestions seem to run towards the blunt don't they…"

"Yeah." I sighed. "I mean, I like him but there's just not that chemistry thing."

"So what do you want me to say? That I understand? I understand." I knew that Alex would be disappointed but he seemed genuinely mad. "Well what are you getting so sore about?" I asked with a hint of shock in my voice. "I'm not sore!" he denied and then stood up. "You want advice? You wanna break up with Walter? Fine. Just go on your own instincts, the instincts that have gotten you this far. Divorced, poor, working nights, holding down two jobs." _Why is he bringing my whole life into this? I just said I needed to break up with Walter. What does he want me to do, lead Walter on forever? _I stood up and followed him. "Alex will you calm down for a second? Now listen to me," I whined, "this man is coming over tonight and we're gonna be alone… my kids are with my ex-husband. And I don't know if I can handle it."

"Elaine, do you really expect me to tell you whether you should 'roll in the hay' or not with Walter?" I frowned as I said, "I guess you're right. Oh, I gotta do what I gotta do. I just know it's going to break his heart." As Alex walked away he concluded our conversation by saying, "Oh… you're gonna go to bed with him." Some help he was. Apparently I was going to be on my own with this problem.

Well, I did end up 'rolling in the hay' with Walter, and my fears were confirmed. After one night he had planned the rest of our lives together. I was forced to tell him that things were moving too fast. He listened and we agreed to take it slow and play it by ear. Our relationship didn't last very long after that; it was difficult with him living in Washington D.C. and me in New York. The break up was mutual and for the best.


	5. Mama Gravas

_**Mama Gravas**_

_**Alex: **_I had done something stupid. Wait, I won't say stupid… risky. I did something risky. I, with absolutely no intentions of doing so whatsoever, spent a night with Latka's mother. Before you start judging me… have you **seen **Latka's mother? My predicament was obvious, if Latka found out it could really hurt our friendship. I needed to tell **someone**, but who? I wanted to tell Bobby, Tony, and John but they'd make jokes and they aren't the best at keeping secrets. I, of course, couldn't tell Latka, and Louie? Forget about it. That left Elaine. I debated whether or not to tell her. I didn't think she'd make jokes, at least not to the extent the other guys would, but I was afraid of what she might think of me. I didn't want her to think I was a pig or something. I almost didn't tell her, but I just couldn't keep it to myself. I needed advice on what to do. Thankfully she didn't judge me. She laughed, but she didn't judge me. I don't think she did anyway… She told me to just make sure Latka never found out. Unfortunately two seconds after that was said, Latka came in saying, "Alex Reiger…" I won't go into the whole story, but Latka was upset but we did something that in his country they call 'globnick' which is where we pretend like it didn't happen.

I learned then that I could talk to Elaine about anything. I was glad, for so long I didn't really have anyone to go to with any problem. That was my place in the group. Everyone came to me with their problems. They still do but it's nice to know that I have someone to turn too.


	6. Alex Tastes Death

_**Alex Tastes Death and Finds A Nice Restaurant**_

_**Elaine: **__I can't believe it. Alex really quit._ _I know what he went through was traumatic but… he really quit?_ Maybe I should explain what happened. Alex was robbed while he was on duty. Not only that, but he got shot. He wasn't severely hurt, the bullet nicked his hear and he lost hearing on that side temporarily. At first, he was oddly brave about the whole thing. I suggested to him to take a few days off. He refused and said he was fine. Well, after his shift he was far from fine. He hadn't booked a cent. The next thing any of us knew he had quit. We all said goodbye and he was off. A few weeks later the guys and I all went to visit him at his new job. He was a waiter in a very classy French restaurant. We all went there kind of hoping that Alex was miserable. Well, not miserable in general, but at his new job. We missed him terribly. The garage wasn't the same without him. You know, it wasn't until he was gone that I realized just how much he had become a part of my life. I missed our card games, I missed his advice, I missed our conversations at Mario's after the other guys had left- I missed **him**. When Alex came over to our table he didn't seem particularly unhappy. It was kind of funny seeing him all dressed up. Maybe funny isn't the correct word… it was different. I was so used to seeing him in casual everyday clothes. But what felt really weird was having him serve us. He then made it more awkward by ordering us some of the most expensive meals on the menu. Finally we admitted our reasons for coming. We were relieved to hear that he had been thinking about coming back to work as a driver. He listed the pros and cons and, even though he had a twenty dollar tip in one hand, he chose being a cab driver. We were all thrilled. The guys hoisted him up right there in middle of the restaurant. We had our best friend back. **I **had my best friend back.

_**Alex: **_I was glad I had decided to come back to the garage. It took some time to get back in the real swing of things, but with the help of my friends I was able to. I always knew how much I loved all my friends, but I never expected I'd feel such a loss with them not being around.


	7. Substitute Father

_**Substitute Father**_

_**Elaine: **_I had a problem. I had gotten a call saying that my aunt in upstate New York was sick. Since she lived alone I had to go up and spend a few days with her until she got better. I was all set to bring my kids, but then I realized that my son, Jason, would end up missing his Spelling Bee. I couldn't let that happen after he had come this far and after he had worked so hard. His father was out of town and I couldn't afford a babysitter for that length of time. I turned to Alex. I was hesitant of asking because this was a **huge **favor to be asking. Also, he and Jason had never met. But what other choice did I have? I got both of the kids packed before heading to the garage to ask Alex. I just hoped that Alex was there and that he'd say yes.

_**Alex: **_Let me tell you about the time I first met Elaine's son, Jason. Elaine came running in to the garage one day at the end of my shift saying how glad she was I was there. Frantically she began, "Listen I have a big favor to ask of you. I just found out that my aunt up in Buffalo is sick so I'm gonna go up there to spend a couple days with her. I'm taking Jennifer with me but my problem is Jason. See, he's got this big Spelling Bee competition and the district finals are this Saturday. I'd hate to have him miss out after he's come this far so… do you think it would be alright if he stayed with you a couple of days? Oh please don't feel pressured into saying yes but please say yes." I messed with her a bit by replying with (after a pause), "What was that Elaine? I wasn't listening." I quickly corrected myself when I saw the anxiety in her expression. "Alright, yeah sure, sure. I'll be glad too!" I smiled. She smiled big too as she hugged me and said, "Oh Alex, you're a doll! Oh thanks so much. He's just in the car, I'll go get him. Thanks!"

"Don't thank me, it'll be fun." I said holding my smiled as she ran out to get Jason. The minute she was gone the smile left my face as I panicked and admitted to myself, "I don't want to do this…" What did I know about taking care of a child? Sure, I raised my daughter for two years but that was different. You don't have to entertain a baby the same way you entertain a seven year old. I didn't know the kid either. I had heard wonderful things about him from Elaine of course but what if he acted different around me? I then remembered that I had dinner plans with my sister on Thursday and then Friday I had a date. I quickly asked Bobby if he could help me out. He was feeling the same way I was. He had no idea what to do with the kid. Thankfully, he agreed to help out on Thursday. Then Tony and John were working out a way to help out on Friday. "How did I get myself into this?" I asked aloud. Just then Elaine came back with Jason. The smile returned to my face as I greeted, "This must be Jason! How are ya Jason?" I shook hands with him as Elaine introduced us all. So it was official, I was taking care of Jason. I struggled (as did the others) with what to say. Finally, I told him I'd take him to breakfast. I went to get something from my locker and asked Bobby to stay with Jason until I came back. Bobby really didn't want too but he did. I don't know what happened but when I came back it looked like Jason and Bobby were old pals. He even took Jason to breakfast for me.

We all really enjoyed having Jason around. He **was **a great kid. We were all having so much fun doing things with him that we kept him from studying… when he lost the Spelling Bee we knew it had been our fault. This is how great a kid he is: when Elaine came back from Buffalo and Jason told her he loss, I told her what had happened and that it wasn't his fault, and Jason said, "That's nice of you guys to say, but I'm the one who blew it. Studying was supposed to be **my **responsibility not anybody else's. It's nobody's fault but **mine**." Elaine was so proud to hear him say that. I told her once Jason had left, "That's some kid you got there." But that's no surprise seeing as his mother is Elaine Nardo.


	8. Nardo Loses Her Marbles

_**Nardo Loses Her Marbles**_

_**Alex: **_None of us had seen Elaine for weeks; the gallery had been keeping her really busy. She had been put in charge of a new exhibit for the first time. She wanted everything to be perfect (which was understandable). If everything went well it would be very beneficial for her career. But by the looks of it, it didn't seem to be helping her health- mental health that is. It was eight in the morning when she came into the garage. She asked what Tony, Bobby and I had been up too and we asked about her. We were all going to play a round of poker and her exact words were, "So, how 'bout we just play a round you know and uh, yeah it'll give me time to relax and eat my lunch and balance my checkbook and go through my mail." She was definitely busy. I could hear the strain in her voice. Louie then gave her a huge pile of messages. We hadn't even started our game and she had to take a break to make some calls. I'll admit I was annoyed as were Tony and Bobby. She felt bad and sat back down to play, but the phone rang at the same time. As she got up to take the call she asked, "Would somebody get me some coffee? It's going to be a long day." I volunteered and got up to get it. Once she was off the phone she pointed to the cup in my hand, "Is that my coffee?" I answered, "Yeah," as I began to hand her the cup. Before she took it I stopped. "Wait a minute. How many cups have you already had today?" She answered, "Three."

"Okay." I handed her the cup. Once it was in her hand she started to take a sip as she said smugly, "I lied, I had eight." She grinned. I said, knowing her well, "I lied, that's hot chocolate." She just rolled her eyes before I asked, "Elaine, could I talk to you for a minute?" She stammered, worried about taking time away from her busy schedule, but I think she detected the seriousness in my voice. "Uh, yeah sure… what's on your mind?" She sat down on the bench as I began. "I'm worried about you." She just awed. "No 'aw', I'm worried about you."

"I know I worry about you too sometimes."

"We're not talking about me, I'm wonderful." She patted my hand and said, "Yeah, you are." I then sat down trying to get her to listen. "Please Elaine, are you okay? I mean the way you've been running around-" She stopped me. Speaking very rapidly she said, "Oh Alex I know what you're going to say. You're worried about me because of the way I've been running around and I seem to be going in twenty different directions at once and you think it's bad for me and kinda dangerous and uh, I think you're blowing this way, way out of proportion but okay, okay. I promise you ask soon as everything slows down and I have taken care of everything that's hanging over my head at the this moment I am going to take a nice long three week bath. And I know I talk too much and thanks." I tried stopping her when she was speaking but it was no use. As she walked away I said sarcastically, "I didn't mean to lecture."

_**Elaine: **__It's sweet of Alex to worry about me but I'm fine. Really, I am. I know it may not seem like it on the surface. I'm just doing a lot of different things at once. Nothing wrong with that, I can totally handle it._

I really was fine. That was until the disastrous exhibit opening…

Things were bumpy, but it could have been worse. Though, I was so relieved to see the guys walk in. I had been talking to one of the artists when they arrived so in order to get away without appear rude I said to her, "Fran, these are very important buyers." I walked over to greet them. "Oh, I am so glad to see you guys." I said through my teeth as I shook their hands. "Friendly faces you know." I went on and the, wondered, "How come you're so early." Bobby answered, "Well we were gonna go eat at Mario's first but Alex said you had food so you know." He shrugged. "We got here fast before any freeloaders scoffed it up." added Tony. My response was, "Yeah, well, you can have anything you see, but hey guys remember last time, I mean don't go stuffing food in your pockets." Then Bobby asked who the woman I had been talking to was. I answered and Bobby went over to 'charm' her. I just rolled my eyes. "So how's it goin'?" Alex asked. I answered in I guess you can say a tone that hinted stress, "Well, the paintings got lost, the food came late, Jason's ant colony broke, there are ants all over my apartment and the exterminator can't come until tomorrow." I handed him a glass of champagne while I had been talking. "And you?" I asked as I clicked my glass against his. I don't know if Alex answered or not, I was far too busy thinking of the things I needed to do for the opening. I rushed off to get ashtrays. When I came back disaster stuck. "Elaine…" Philip, one of the artists whose work was being displayed called. "Yeah?" I answered. "We have to talk." He said nervously. "I'll be over there in a second, okay Philip?"

"I'm taking my paintings down." _No. He did not just say that. He didn't there is no way. _"What?" I gasped. I'm sure everyone could hear the horror in my voice. He answered, "I rushed them and it shows." I did my best trying to remain calm as I tried to convince him otherwise. "Oh, no, no Philip. These paintings: they're wonderful." He continued to deny, "No, they're not ready. I'm sorry, I can't let them be seen."

"No! Philip!" I screeched. "I mean come on be reasonable." Philip had already started taking his paintings down but I grabbed the other end. Alex came over to me to see what was going on. "Alex, Philip wants to take his paintings down."

"Do they look finished to you?" Philip asked Alex and which he answered, "They're great!" Bobby chimed in. "Terrific!" And then Tony… I could have strangled him right then and there for what he said. "I think this one could use more brown."

"That does it!" he grabbed the painting from me as I cried, "No, Philip- Tony! How could you do this to me!?" Alex pulled me away before I could hurt him. He told me "It's okay, it's okay." But I was still calling after Philip. Alex **tried **to cheer me up. "Maybe it's better this way. Who says an art gallery has to have paintings all over the walls?" I could feel all the stress from the past few weeks catching up to me. I didn't trust myself. I gripped Alex's hand as I said, "Alex I think you better take me out of here pretty fast." Just then, what should happen? One of the owners came up to me. "Excuse me, Elaine?" Alex, not knowing who the man was, rudely said to him, "What do you want?" I was quick to correct him. "No, no, no Alex, this is one of the owners." Alex apologized and let the owner speak with me. "Elaine, it's the champagne." Very anxiously I asked, "What about it?" He went on, "Well it's flat, several people have noticed." I just looked at the glass in his hand and whined, "Well what do you want me to do about it?" He shrugged and said as he looked at the champagne in the glass, "Well I don't know but I mean people like bubbles in their champagne. I know I do. Do you see any bubbles?" He held the glass in front of me. I snapped. I couldn't take anymore. "You want bubbles?" I said as I put my hands on my hips. Then I stuck my face in his glass and blew bubbles. _You happy now?! Are you satisfied with your precious bubbles you jerk!? _The pompous jerk just rolled his eyes and arrogantly said, "I guess that's what I can expect from a cab driver." There was absolutely no way I was going to take that. "No," I shouted, "you know what you can expect from a cab driver?" I swung my hand back but before my fist hit his face, Alex picked me up and rushed me out of there as I screamed.

_**Alex: **_I tried to warn her that she was doing too much. But she wouldn't listen. Elaine is certainly an independent thinker. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case… anyways… I had never seen Elaine like that. I didn't like it at all. Frankly it scared me. I was tense on the drive home. She even told **me **to relax. "Me relax? **You **relax!" I retorted. "We'll both relax, okay?" she sighed. This couldn't go on any longer. "Elaine, I think you need to see someone." She looked at me confused. "What do you mean?" and then it hit her. "I am **not **going to see a psychiatrist."

"Why not?" I asked. "Do you think needing help is a sign of weakness?" She answered, "Yeah!" as if I had just asked an obvious, dumb question. I guess in her mind I had. "There's nothing wrong with needing a little help once in a while. Stop trying to be so tough."

"Hey, I am a single mother responsible for two small children. Man, I gotta be tough." This wasn't going anywhere. It was too hard to have a conversation like this while driving so I pulled over. "Okay…" I said. "Now, what about your responsibility to those two small children? What's gonna happen to them, hmm? Now, I'm no psychiatrist but I know a manic depressive down syndrome when I see one." I had no idea what I was saying. The point was she needed help. I was never big on psychiatrists myself but I knew Elaine needed help. She obviously wasn't going to take me seriously enough. Maybe it wasn't my place, but I really care about her. I didn't want to see a repeat of what had taken place at the gallery. "Alex, I can't see a psychiatrist."

"Why not?"

"What about the money?" she asked, looking for any way out of this. "So you'll go to a clinic where they charge you according to what you're wearing. Now don't make money the issue. You're scared."

"Of what?" she asked. I answered "You're scared that you're going to find out you're just as fragile and needy as all the rest of us."

"Alex I don't need to see a psychiatrist! Yeah okay, okay. The pressure's been getting to me. I'd be stupid not to admit that now but I don't need to see a psychiatrist... I don't know, maybe I need an arm around me once in a while." I tried cheering her up by putting my arm around me. She giggled and went on, "Or a pat on the head." I continued to play along and patted her head. What happened next I was not expecting… and I don't really think I was prepared for it either. She put her head on my shoulder. It took me a minute to figure out what was happening. And then she said, "Or a kiss…?" her voice changed. I didn't quite know what to do. After a pause I went to kiss her forehead but she moved and kissed my lips. It took me a moment to register it all. One minute I'm trying to help my **friend **Elaine and the next minute my **friend **Elaine and I are kissing. I pulled away as she started to slowly pulled herself closer to me. "Alex, don't pull away from me." I said, flustered, "I-I'm not pulling away from you Elaine… Now look, sometimes people get upset and instead of dealing with their problems they try to run away from them like with drinking and eating and uh, flirting with enormously attractive men."

"Alex, I don't think you should kid around about this." She said as pulled me closer to her, yet again, and started stroking my cheek and chin, "I mean come on, you and I have been pretty close and we have cared about each other for some time now. You can't tell me that uh, getting **closer **has never crossed your mind." I didn't quite know what to say… I mean me and **Elaine**? "As a matter of fact… it hasn't kept me awake nights, no." She seemed genuinely surprised. "It's **never **crossed your mind?" I sighed, "Once." I admitted. She asked with a grin, "When?" I looked her straight in the eye and told her the truth (though perhaps I shouldn't have), "The day you wore that red and white striped dress…" Saying no was getting harder and harder, especially with the look in her eye and the tone of her voice when she said, "It's crossed my mind once…"

"When?" I found myself asking. "Now." she answered. I quickly started the car in a panic, I didn't know how much longer I'd hold up, but she pulled the key out of the ignition. "Alex, um… be honest with me. What are you afraid of?" she asked. "What am I afraid of?" I repeated and then put my arm around her. "Elaine, Elaine… look, I'm just afraid that you're doing this, maybe unconsciously, because you just don't want to deal with the fact that you might need some help right now. That's all." She pulled me close again, "Oh I love it when a man tells me that I'm unconsciously avoiding therapy!" I pushed her back. "Elaine, Elaine, stop giving me a hard time. Okay?" I was getting weaker and weaker. I knew because I ignorantly blurted, "I mean look, it's not as if part of me doesn't want too-" I heard myself and tried to correct what I had said but it was too late. Elaine grined, clearly feeling victorious as she said, "I'm gonna wait it out until you finish that." Of course I wanted too… I did care a lot for Elaine and I kind of liked the idea of being **closer**. She was a wonderful woman. If it had just been a different time… but then another thing occurred to me, "No, no, no," I began. "I'm just worried about the fact that we have a great friendship and-" She cut me off, "Oh Alex, I'm a very busy woman. I've got two jobs and two kids. Yes or no?"

"No." I answered too quickly. I wanted to say yes, really I did. But if I had let anything happen to us then I would have been taking complete advantage of her. There was no way I could have lived with myself. She looked truly hurt as she backed and turned away from me. She seemed to be fighting back tears. I tried to correct my error but as I said, I didn't have much more in me. "Elaine, damn it, it just wouldn't be right. I wouldn't **feel **right. Look, you've been upset for weeks now. You've gotta see someone." Her voice broke, "Okay, okay! If you feel that strongly about it I'm gonna go. I mean I think it's a waste of time but I'm gonna go just to prove that you're wrong." She handed me the keys as I said "Fine."

"Fine," she repeated. "Now take me home." Once again I said, "Fine." I started the car. But before I started to drive I said (stupidly), "Hey but if you do go to a psychiatrist and he gives us the permission to uh-" I was interrupted by her angry glare. "I'll take you home now." I finished. Hey, I think I did pretty well given the circumstances.

_**Elaine: **_I couldn't believe that Alex was making me see a psychiatrist. And I **really **couldn't believe he said no. How could he? He clearly wanted too. I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions. It's not up to him to decide if I'm in the right state of mind to take our relationship to the next level. So made an appointment with a psychiatrist even though I knew I didn't need one. The doctor seemed nice enough. I had written a note saying that I was in no need of help for him to sign. He was ready to sign but asked if I wanted to talk first. I figured I may as well if I was already paying for the session. He said 'wow' a lot when I told him my typical day. As I went on I got really tired of hearing it. Yeah, my day- my life was extremely hectic. That's what happens when you're a grown up. What came next I had no idea was inside me. I started sobbing and saying how sometimes I wish I could just get in my cab and drive and drive and drive to someplace where nobody knows me or wants anything. I couldn't take being a grown up anymore. I knew I felt that way but I never expected to cry like I had- or at all. I guess I'd been holding it all in for quite some time. It had been so hard since my divorce. I felt so alone. Yeah, I had my friends but how often did I see them? A few hours every day? I had no help with my kids expect on occasion from their father. No one was there when things were bad or when things were good. When there was a problem it was up to me to fix it. It's hard working two jobs as it is, add two children on top of that. I couldn't give up driving because I needed the money, I couldn't give up the gallery because I was really beginning to grow and it was my dream. And obviously there was no giving up the kids. Not that I wanted too, I just couldn't do it alone anymore. I had no choice though. I finally realized that Alex was right; I **did **need help. He was also right for saying no to me. I came to realize that I came on to Alex because I felt closer to him than anyone else and I wanted **him **to be there for the good and the bad. But we were friends… nothing else. I'd just have to live with that. But I was annoyed that he was right. I'd have to get him for that. And I did.

_**Alex: **_A couple weeks had passed with no sign of Elaine. I was worried that I might not get see her again. I was afraid I had really hurt her. I was so relieved when I saw her walk into the garage. To my surprise she was wearing the red and white striped dress I had mentioned to her that night in the cab. She did it on purpose, I know it. "Hey Elaine!" I greeted when I saw her. "I haven't seen you in a while. Ever since you've been goin' to the psychiatrist. What was it? Two weeks. How have you been doing?" Nervously she smiled as she shrugged, "Well it's kinda hard to tell. I've only seen him ten times. But I like him." She looked at my watch as she continued, "As a matter of fact I'm late for an appointment right now. But uh… but I've been missing you and uh… I wanted to talk." She was stammering. I just smiled, aware of her embarrassment from the last time we had spoken, "Yeah sure, sure." She timidly giggled, "This is kinda hard for me." Trying to make her feel better I said, "Let me start." I pointed to her, "Nice dress." She laughed, "Thanks." She took a breath before she asked me, "Um… Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember the conversation we had that night in the cab?" I think my own awkwardness was making me joke around. I answered in a monotone, first taking a moment pretending like I had to think, "Uh… you mean when you said that 'Alex, be honest me what are you afraid of' and I said 'I'm afraid you're just doing this maybe unconsciously because you don't want to deal with the fact that you may need help right now' and you said 'I love it when a man accuses me of unconsciously avoiding therapy' and I said 'don't give me a hard time it's not like part of me doesn't want too'?" She smiled and nodded, "Yeah." I teased, "Vaguely."

"Well, uh, I just wanted to tell you that you were right. That it was my way of avoiding my problems and uh… and that this wouldn't be the right time to get involved in a physical relationship. And I wanna thank you for realizing that... thanks."

It took me a moment before I could speak. "Hey listen," I brushed off. "I'm just glad that one of us had the sense to stop before we did something that we'd-" Once again I joked, "we would've both remembered fondly for the rest of our lives." Okay so maybe I wasn't joking… She laughed though and hugged me. She then left as she said, "Thanks again. Bye." She waved as I watched her leave. What had I done? How could I have said no to her? It was that darn dress!


	9. A Woman Between Friends

_**A Woman Between Friends**_

_**Elaine: **_I had never seen Alex so worried. He'd be mad at me for saying this but it was kind of cute seeing a grown man so afraid of the dentist. He clearly had a toothache but he did **not **want to get it checked out. "Alex, a bad tooth isn't a maybe thing." I said to him when he complained his beer was too cold when he said to me, "Maybe I have a bad tooth." He shot me a look with his finger in his mouth and corrected, "I have a bad tooth." He went on, "It's alright though, it doesn't hurt until I drink something cold or suck air through my teeth." I asked, "And you haven't done anything about it?"

"I quit sucking air through my teeth."

"Why don't you see a dentist?" Tony asked and Alex admitted, "I can't get myself to make an appointment." Bobby was shocked, "Alex, you're afraid of dentists?" Alex denied, "No! I'm not afraid of dentists necessarily. I'm just afraid of any man who likes to dig and pick in someone's mouth with sharp instruments." I couldn't help but laugh, "Alex, why don't you let me make an appointment for you. I've got a dentist who's almost painless."

"Okay but look, make the appointment for me but please, do me one favor? Don't tell me when until it's just time to go." He asked very anxiously and went on. "I just want enough time to get there and not enough time to think about it." I continued to laugh, "You know that you're acting like a child?"

"Oh yeah and tell him I want to be treated like a child."

So I made the appointment for him and as he asked I didn't bring it up until it was time to go. At first I thought the timing was good because he really wanted to get out of settling something with Bobby, Tony, and their girlfriend (it's a long story that I'll save for another day). "I'm not gonna get any more involved in the triangle you're trying to form here." He said sternly to both Tony and Bobby. I called with a grin, "That's a good thing 'cause you can't go anyways."

"Why not?"

"You have a dentist appointment in thirty minutes." Without saying anything he hastily left with Bobby and Tony. _He really is being such a child. Only if he were a child he wouldn't get away with this. He won't next time. _Yet again I set up an appointment for him. "Alex, I made another dentist appointment for you." I said as I walked into the garage after my shift a few days later.

"Oh great Elaine, thank you. Oh, same deal as before? Don't tell me until it's just about time to go?"

_**Alex: **_"Okay," she said while she walked over to me at the table. "It's time." I panicked, "Now?" _I don't want to go now. I didn't have any time to wrap my mind around it. _"You got ten minutes to get there, come on." She gestured for me to get up and go with her. I tried to get out of it. "I can't go now." I said, worried. I tried to come up with an excuse as fast as I could. "My tooth stopped hurting. Hey imagine that. Go figure, teeth." She wasn't buying it. "Alex, a bad tooth doesn't just get better." Continuing to try and get out of going I said, "No, no, no, Elaine I'm fine. Really, I'm fine." I then said getting back to my poker game with Bobby and Tony, "I open for a quarter." Elaine still wasn't dropping the matter. "Okay here," she said as she took Bobby's drink. "Drink this cold soda pop." She handed me the drink. "Sure." I took a sip and swished it around to prove to her I didn't have to go to the dentist. "I don't know how you did that, but if you are that determined not to go well forget it. _The pain…. _I stopped her as I clutched the arm of the chair, "Elaine?" She turned back around as I ripped the chair arm off and ran out the door. She followed and we were off to the appointment. _Maybe it won't be as bad if she is there with me._ _I just hope she'll make them treat me as a child…_

After I was through at the dentist I felt pretty silly for how nervous I was. Here I was, a grown man making Elaine hold my hand in the waiting room, almost breaking it when my name was called. I would have made her come in with me but that would have been ridiculous. It was a comfort knowing she was just in the waiting room though. When I was through she joked around pretending I was a little kid and said, "There, that wasn't so bad now was it? You were very brave." I attempted to make a comeback but it's hard to be taken seriously with cotton in your mouth and when your lip is numb.


	10. The Great Race

_**The Great Race**_

_**Elaine: **_Alex and Louie were having a race to see who could make the most money in one shift. I didn't have any extra money to bet with so Louie wagered that if he won, I'd have to go on a date with him. If Alex won, he'd give me five hundred dollars. See, what happened was that he overheard me say 'good luck' to Alex and that I knew he was going to win and that if I had any money I'd bet it all on him. Louie then crawled out of his cab and tried talking me in to this 'date' bet. He asked what a date was worth to me. No way was I going to put myself at risk of having to go out with Louie- no matter how positive I was that Alex was going to win. So I said five hundred dollars, thinking he'd never part with that kind of money. To my horror he yelled, "You're on!" Needless to say, the rest of the night I was sick to my stomach. Especially when I saw that Louie was creaming Alex. Alex **could **have easily won had he not been so ethical. So what if he robbed a poor, innocent, Chinese man (who didn't speak one word of English) blind? This was a life and death situation here! My anxiety become so bad that towards the end of it all I couldn't even speak. I know, you must be thinking that I completely over reacted to something as simple as a date. "Oh, how bad could one date be?" you're probably wondering. **Bad**. I didn't trust him one bit. He's a sneaky, slimy, and greedy pig. I did not want to put myself in that situation. But the way things were looking, I'd be in for a complete and total nightmare.

_**Alex: **__I just have to win this race. One, to shut Louie up for once and for all. Two, to make sure everyone in the garage doesn't lose their money. And three, to make sure Elaine doesn't go on a date with Louie. There is no way I can let that happen to her. I don't trust Louie to be alone with her. Not at all. Or any woman for that matter. But especially not with Elaine._

When it came time for the final tally I still had an ounce of hope that maybe I'd won. To my misfortune, and everyone else in the garage besides Louie's, I lost. Louie's total was two hundred dollars and thirty cents and mine was one hundred ninety seven dollars. I felt really bad. I'd let everyone down. No one really said anything though, not even Elaine, though, she grew extremely pale. When she saw me counting my tips she said, "Hey, what's that?!" It sounded like she wanted to cry. I answered, "My tips." She grabbed my arm as she asked, "Don't tips count?" The thought hadn't occurred to me. "I don't know."

"Hey we said the guy who brings the most money wins." Tony said hopefully. He then finished, "Tips are money." Elaine squealed, "Ooo that's right! I've seen them! I know for a fact that it's money, it's money!" Louie didn't like this idea. "No, no! Tips don't count! It's what's on the meter that counts!"

"We never said tips don't count, Louie." Bobby chimed in. "We never said they do either." Louie defended. "Hey listen, if I thought for a second that tips counted I coulda pulled in more than eighty cents…"

"Admit it Louie," I started. "Eighty cents is a record for you." I counted the money in my hands and then placed it on the table. "Okay I've got forty bucks here!" Everyone cheers as Louie kept yelling "No! Tips don't count!" Bobby stopped the fighting and decided that the only fair thing to do was to let someone who didn't bet on the race decide if tips counted or not. We all turned to look at Latka who was oblivious to what was going on. After Latka misunderstood what we were asking and he answered that 'of course tips count'. We all cheered (with the obvious exception of Louie). Elaine was so happy that she jumped into my arms. I was glad to 'save' her from that terror which would have been a date with Louie. I was also glad that everyone in the garage won Louie's money.

You know… I thought for a moment afterwards of asking Elaine if my winning meant she'd go on a date with me. **Mostly **as a joke, but I thought against it as it could be taken the wrong way (or maybe the right way… I wasn't sure. Another reason I thought against it).


	11. Elaine's Secret Admirer

_**Elaine's Secret Admirer**_

_**Alex: **_Elaine had been getting anonymous poems in the mail; very romantic poems. I think we all wanted to know who was sending them just as much as she did. Okay, maybe not as much as she did… but we **were** extremely curious. Elaine appeared to be very turned on by the notes, though, she didn't want to admit it. Here was the first poem she received:

"I saw you standing in a Manhattan sunset; your auburn hair blowing from Atlantic winds. Your eyes were smiling at thoughts far away; dancing to sonnets only you could hear. If I could, I would build you a castle in a world of some other time. A castle I could only imagine. A castle only you could inspire."

Jim, Tony, Bobby and I had all been at her place to help her paint her apartment when she recived it. I sort of wondered if any of the guys had wrote it and watched their faces as she read the poem aloud. Tony couldn't hide his laughter, Bobby seemed confused by the whole thing, and Jim's expression was blank, as usual.

Soon after the first poem, a second one was found in her locker. It had to be someone from the garage.

_**Elaine: **__Who is sending me these poems? _I just had to know. I'd been having such bad luck with men and the poems… I don't know they gave me hope in a way. Once I found a second poem in my locker I **really **had to know. I first thought of the guys; more specifically Alex. It would have made sense to have been Alex. Actually, I was kind of hoping it'd be Alex. I know, I know, we're just friends. But there's no harm in wishing right? I did end up asking him if he had wrote them. I couldn't rule anyone out.

"Another poem huh?" Alex asked as I sat down at the table with him. "Yeah," I began. "This one's even sweeter than the first." Then Louie classily added, "Poems get you hot, huh Nardo?" I ignored him as did Alex. He took a look at the poem in front of him. "Hey listen, if this was found in your locker that must mean it's someone in the garage." I rolled my eyes, "I don't even care who it was."

"No?" he asked as I shook my head. "Why not?" I answered, "Because the whole thing is just so stupid and corny and high school… And worst of all it **is **getting me hot." Alex laughed and I grinned, "You know Alex… um, the thought has crossed my mind that maybe you were the ones who wrote the poems. Did you?" I asked perhaps a bit too hopefully. "No," he answered to my disappointment. "I'd like to claim them but I'm not much of a poet. I once wrote a poem for my wife- she grated it."

So I was still trying to figure who it was. And then I found him. Don Reavy. I had always found him kind of shallow, but his poems said otherwise. So I started to go out with him and I could feel myself beginning to fall for him.

_**Alex: **_Don wasn't the one who wrote the poems. The guy was a liar. I knew who wrote the poems. You'll never guess.

Jim.

It was Jim who had wrote the poems. He had written them to cheer Elaine up after her latest break up. It cheered her up alright. So much that she was going out with that Don Reavy. The worst part was that I promised Jim I wouldn't tell her that he was the one. I fully intended on staying true to my word, but when I found out that Don and Elaine were going away for the weekend I had to do something. They had only been dating for a couple of weeks. This was moving way too fast. It would have been one thing if Don had really been her poet. "Elaine, I wanna tell you something." She looked very annoyed. Probably because she was mad because the other guys and I kept saying we didn't like Don. Also, I had been noticing that Don seemed to have been changing her for the worse. She wasn't herself at all. I went on, "Uh, Don Reavy is not your poet. He's a liar." I said bluntly. She rolled her eyes, "Alex I know you don't like Don but that's no reason for you to tell me this."

"It has nothing to do with not liking him. He did not write the poems." I persisted. She grumbled and interrogated, "How do you know that?"

"Because I know who wrote them." I confessed. She could see I was telling the truth. "You're serious aren't you?" she asked disheartened. "Yes I am." After a pause she said, "Well?" She wanted me to tell her who it was, but I wasn't going to break my promise to Jim. "Huh? No, I-I'm sorry." She was mad, "Come on! Who wrote the poetry?"

"I promised I wouldn't tell." I said, hoping she'd start guessing who. "Oh great!" she said angrily. "But I didn't promise I wouldn't nod if you guessed it right."

"Alex, I'm not gonna play stu- Tony." I shook my head and she began listing names. "Bobby. Brain. Val. Nick. Johnny Fingers. Eddie. Billy. Ron. Harry. Umm… Peppy. Carlo. Pedro. Puddlowski. Callas. Uhh… Jeff. Amid. Latka?"

"No."

She continued, "The bald guy who comes in on Thursdays? Sheila?"

"Sheila?" I again shook my head as she said, "Well that's everybody in the garage. So I guess it's nobody." Then Jim came out from behind the coffee machine. "Yeah… it's nobody." She was completely shocked as she turned around. She quickly looked back at me to confirm and I nodded. Looking back at Jim she said, "It's you…"

"How did you guess?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and Elaine went on. "I can't believe it…" Guiltily, Jim apologized. "I'm sorry." Elaine slowly walked towards Jim. "Why did you do it?" He answered, "I thought you'd like it." Fighting back tears, Elaine responded, "Oh I liked it. Oh yeah I…" she choked. "I liked it so much that I started falling in love with a guy."

"I was just trying to make you feel better."

"Well good job." She walked away from Jim and grabbed her bag from the chair. "I can honestly say without fear of contradiction that this- this is the most embarrassed I've ever been in my whole life." She started to leave but stopped, "You know on second thought," she cried. "I guess I should be happy about one thing… You finally got it through my thick skull that there aren't going to be any castles in my life." Jim was silent as he sadly tipped his head. Elaine concluded, "Thanks a lot."

I felt so bad for her, and so bad for Jim. I wanted to follow her and try to cheer her up, but that would have only made things worse.

_**Elaine: **__I can't believe he did this to me. I don't care if he meant well. Because of him I fell for a total jerk. Because of him I made myself look like a complete idiot for believing that a guy like Don Reavy would write such beautiful and down to Earth poems. I should have known. I just was hoping that I'd finally found the fairy tale romance I had always dreamed of. This should finally teach me a lesson that my life isn't and never will be a fairy tale. I'm just going to become the old woman who turns out to be the villain or the wicked stepmother or something. I'll never be the princess who finds her prince charming. You'd think I would have learned that lesson through divorce. I'll never find someone. I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life. Sure I'll have boyfriends come and go, but will any of them want me to be their wife? No, because I fall for stupid, corny, childish things like poems. Not just poems, anonymous poems. I believe… believed that a fairytale romance could actually happen. I'm ridiculous. I need to just wake up and take a look at reality. I wasn't meant to be in love._

Little did I know that I'd come home to a castle. A castle Jim had built for me in the middle of my living room.

If only it had come with my prince…


	12. What Price Bobby?

_**What Price Bobby?**_

_**Elaine: **_I was afraid that I'd never see Alex again. He had been away on a ski trip when he called me and said that he was never coming back. He was having the time of his life. I kept talking to him and trying to get him to come home. Then Louie said to Tony and me that maybe we were the reason Alex didn't want to come home.

Maybe he was right (as much as I hated to admit it); we were always going to him with all of our problems. It had to be hard on him. _How can I- uh we make it up to him? _I kept thinking. It felt so weird not having him around. I really missed him. I don't know, maybe I was too clingy to him. I didn't mean to be, he's just such a great guy. I couldn't stop thinking about him being gone. Latka was certain he'd be back, but I explained to him that he was enjoying the skiing, breathing fresh, clean air, and meeting a lot of attractive woman. Then Latka said, "I will miss him." _Me too. _It had sort of reminded me of the time when I was a kid and my best friend moved away one summer. Only this time I was losing someone who was much more than my best friend. Technically he wasn't more… but in my mind- oh, never mind.

I guess it never occurred to me that he would eventually run out of money and have to come home… Apparently it hadn't occurred to him either. I was so happy to have him back. When we were alone, I asked him if he had left because of me and the guys constantly going to him all the time and apologized. He admitted that sometimes it got a bit overwhelming. Not so much the needing advice or needing someone to talk too, but when we got him so involved in something he didn't want to be a part of. He was sweet though and said that wasn't usually the case with me and told me that he appreciated my being there for him when **he **had a problem. He then made sure I knew that he'd always be there for me (and then quickly corrected himself and said 'all of you'). My favorite part was when he told me he had started to miss me. He said that he called **me** because he knew that I'd be the one who would have tried the hardest to get him to come home.

"I **did **tell you to come home." I reminded him. He just shrugged and said, "I didn't say that I planned on listening." He kidded and kissed my cheek before he left. _Welcome back, Alex._


	13. Jim Gets A Pet

_**Jim Gets A Pet**_

_**Elaine: **__I cannot believe that Alex got Jim into gambling. Has he lost his mind? You can't turn a man like Jim onto gambling. It's going to go right to his head. _

And it did.

_**Alex: **__I wish Elaine would stop lecturing me about getting Jim into gambling. Okay so it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. _I knew I may have made a mistake, but I think Elaine just wanted an excuse to lecture. "Alex," she started as she began her first lecture. "I really hope that you're satisfied because you just turned Jim into a gambling junkie."

"Hey come on Elaine," I said. "It's his money you know, it's his business, it's his life." She scolded, "And it's **your **fault." It then occurred to me why she was getting so upset about this. I stood up as I said, "Look Elaine, just because your ex-husband was a gambler-" That was as far as I could get because she interrupted, shocked that I dared to bring up her ex-husband. "Oh do **not **bring my ex-husband into this. He has nothing to do with this whatsoever." I tossed my newspaper on the table and backed away seeing I had struck a nerve. "Okay, okay, okay." She was silent for a moment as I walked away and then said, "Do you know that my ex-husband was a gambler?" I stopped and rolled my eyes as I sarcastically remarked, "There was rumor to that affect." She went on, "Alex, I know about gambling. I mean I'm worried about Jim." Jim had been sitting near to where we were standing and overheard. He stood up and questioned, "Excuse me… uh, are you fighting over me?" Elaine answered, "Well… perhaps we are," she shrugged. "Yeah."

"Well don't worry Elaine because I don't have any more money to gamble with anyhow."

That could have been that, but of course Louie had to make things more difficult by lending him money for gambling. So Jim spent the entire next week at the track. I had just arrived back to the garage after a shift one day, Elaine and Tony were sitting at the table playing cards. Elaine said 'hello' and then asked, "Hey, have you seen Jim?"

"No I haven't, why?" I answered. Accusingly, she stated, "Because none of us has seen him lately either. He's been at the **track **every day this week." I just looked at her a moment before walking over, saying, "Am I really gonna get another anti-gambling sermon from a woman holding a hand full of little paste boards with little pictures of kings and queens on them?" Tony panicked, "She's got kings and queens? I fold."

"This is a game, Alex. There's no money involved." She reminded. Tony picked up his cards, "Oh yeah I'm back in." Just then Jim walked in, "Hi everybody." He greeted. We all said hello and then I told him that I wanted to talk to him. I was never going to hear then end of it from Elaine if I didn't try to correct what I had done. So I went through this whole ordeal trying to talk him out of gambling. Finally, I did and when Elaine said he had to pay back all of his losses, that's when we found out he had won ten thousand dollars. I was all ready to rub Elaine's face in it, but the joy didn't last long. He had already spent all the money. Elaine was the one rubbing my face in it when in walked a horse. He had spent ten thousand dollars on the horse that won the race for him. He renamed him Gary and tried to set him free. We had to run after it and explain to Jim that horses can't run free in the city. We put an ad in the paper but no one was responding. In the meantime Gary was living with Jim in his apartment. Gary was in rough shape, it was no surprise when he died. It was still very sad though, especially seeing how it had affected Jim. A lot of times with Jim you assume that things go in one ear and out the other; no long term memory. But Gary's passing proved otherwise.

_**Elaine: **_As annoyed as I was with Alex for getting Jim into gambling and as much as I said 'I told you so' when he came in with that horse, it was really sad when Gary died. Jim had really bonded with him so the death hit him hard. Alex suggested that we have a memorial service for him. Jim was a reverend after all. Normally, I'd find something like that silly, but the garage was really down. I figured maybe it **would **help. I was definitely sadder for Jim, but when he gave Gary's eulogy… I can't explain it but all of a sudden I found myself crying. I barely knew the horse. I saw him that one time he was in the garage. Maybe it was the way Jim presented it and maybe the whole idea of what that poor horse had gone through. Or maybe I was feeling guilty for my 'I knew it' attitude and for not helping out with the horse. Whatever the reason, I was crying. I couldn't stop. I mean, I wasn't sobbing out of control or anything, but I was crying. I was sitting next to Alex and turned to him for comfort, forgetting about our argument. He put his arm around me and held my head close to him and said in a calming voice that it was over and it would be alright.


	14. Shut it Down

_**Shut It Down**_

_**Alex: **_All of the cabbies went on strike because people were risking their lives in the cabs. The company wasn't paying to fix the cabs like they needed and we had to change that. We elected Elaine as our shop steward because she knew how to get us all to work together and come up with a plan. So the strike began. Louie wasn't cooperating at all; he was fixing the books to make it look like the Sunshine Cab Company spent the most money on repairs than any other garage in the city. I think I scared him when I brought up eternal damnation. He told me to send Elaine in to start negotiations. I didn't know what happened but they made some sort of deal and the strike was over. I hadn't seen Elaine our first day back to work. When I asked the guys Tony answered, "She said she was going to take the night off to rest." Bobby added, "Yeah. You know, I think the pressure of being shop steward is finally getting to Elaine."

"Why do you say that?" I wondered. "You know how like when she gets nervous she starts biting finger nails? Well today she started it on mine." Something definitely wasn't right. In a matter of twenty four hours Louie had gone from doctoring books to singing 'The Lady Is A Tramp'. He started acting even more odd. He was asking me which aftershave I preferred (neither) and was getting all dressed up. When Tony said that Elaine sure turned out to be a good shop steward, Louie commented, "I'm hoping she turns out to be a great one." I started to put it together. "What did you say Elaine was doing tonight?" I asked again. Tony repeated, "I told you. She was going to take a night off; get her mind off work." I watched Louie as he got ready for whatever, "Hey Lou… what exactly are you getting prepared for tonight?"

"Oh, I got a little social engagement." He answered with a chuckle. "I don't even know why I'm putting this shirt on. In a couple of hours it's gonna be ripped from my body." It finally hit me, _Elaine is going on a date with Louie. _I told the guys that I was going to go over to Elaine's and see how she was doing.

_**Elaine: **_I was completely debilitated. I was scared out of my mind. But it was the only way anything was going to be solved (shows you how professional Louie is). I can honestly say that I had never been so scared in my entire life. I was about to go on a date with Louie DePalma. I didn't trust him for one minute. There was no doubt in my mind that he'd try something with me. It was bad enough that he was always hitting on me at the garage. At least at the garage there were other people around. Sure, there would be other people at the restaurant but I'd be **with **Louie, I wouldn't be able to walk away. I was such a wreck that I had to take Valium. On top of that I drank anything I could find. Maybe a date with Louie wasn't worth wanting to die to get out of but in the moment I was ready to do **anything **to get out of it. I was lying on the couch in my robe and hugging my drink. And then I heard the dreaded knock. I shouted and cried, "You're early and she doesn't live here and I have a headache!" I told you, I was scared. I can't tell you how relieved I was to see Alex open the door and come in. "Oh gosh. It's true."

"Oh Alex, what are you doing here?" I asked. I was relieved but also embarrassed. "Who were you expecting, Elaine?" he asked me, his tone hinting that he knew about my date with Louie. I stammered, trying to hold back my tears, "My date. Uh… somebody that you don't know." I knew he didn't believe me. "Oh? Tell me about him." I continued to lie, "Oh, well, uh… his name is Joe, and he's a tall blond doctor, and he likes me very much and won't hurt me." Even if he had believed me, my slight sobs would have told him otherwise. "Elaine, I know all about it. I just left Louie at the garage in mid-drool." I stood up, grabbing my bottle of wine, and moaned, "I'm absolutely terrified about this whole thing. I mean, it's the worst thing that's ever happened to me." Alex followed me over to the window while saying, "Elaine, you don't have to do this. The duties of a shop steward do not entail mixing business with terror. It's not part of a shop steward's duties to date Louie, you know. Stubby Detmuller never did it. Well, there was that one time when he went out dancing with Louie on New Year's Eve." He joked, but I wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Oh Alex." I whined as I headed towards the kitchen. "I'm just trying to cheer you up." I knew he was trying to cheer me up, but at that point there was nothing in the world that would have made me smile. "I don't need cheering up, I need **tanking **up." I cried. And then I heard the dreaded knock… for real. "Hide me!" I wailed. "Open the door and feast your eyes on a hundred and fifty pounds of hickey bait!" Louie called from the other side of the door. He was already being disgusting. "Alex," I began as I put my bottle of wine in his hands. "If I ask you real nice, will you take this bottle and beat me senseless?" I was serious too. I had turned around with the little hope I had that he'd actually hit me over the head with the bottle. But instead he turned me back around and said, "Elaine, want me to talk to him and tell him the whole thing's off?" As much as I wanted with every fiber of my being to say 'yes', I knew I couldn't. "No… no, no, it can't be off. Oh… I gotta go through with this. I mean, it's the only way we're gonna settle the strike… Would you watch him while I get ready?" Louie knocked again as I ran in to my room. Well Alex kept Louie entertained (more like making sure he stayed out of my room while I changed), I threw on layers and layers of clothes. I needed to be well hidden. After a minute or two, Alex knocked on my door, "Elaine, your young snake is here." I still was missing a few layers, so I put those on and then very fretfully walked out into the living room after Louie called, "Come out my little vision!" It gives me the creeps just thinking about that. Louie wasn't at all happy with my appearance. "What the hell is this?" he asked. Alex helped out by saying, as he fixed the buttons on my coat and blouse. "Now, now. The little lady is wise. There's a lot of flu going around these days. You know how easy it is to pick up a little bug."

"I found out." I accidently blurted. "Nardo, you look like Nanook of the North." Louie was still in shock. Truthfully, I responded, "There was nothing in our agreement about how I had to dress."

Alex looked at his watch, still in the father figure character he appeared to have created for the situation. "Well, it's getting late. I've gotta go. I'll leave you two kids to your fun." He started for the door but I ran ahead and blocked it. "Uh…" I panicked, "Louie, don't you think it would be nice if Alex came with us?" I already knew the answer, but I had to try. Alex responded, "No, no, Elaine, you gave your word. You've gotta go through with this." As he spoke I was whispering as I hyperventilated, "Please. Please. Please." He tried moving me away from the door, I wasn't budging but he finally pushed me behind the door as he opened it.

_**Alex: **_"Now listen Louie, Incidentally, all kidding aside, if you try anything with Elaine… and I'll kill you." I said to him in all seriousness. I had never seen Elaine- or anyone for that matter- so scared. I didn't trust Louie for a minute, but if it was the only way to settle the strike, I trusted Elaine that she knew what she was doing. Maybe I can be a bit over protective of her at times… but this wasn't just some guy. It was **Louie DePalma**.

_**Elaine: **_I managed to survive my date with Louie, but just barely. I was so glad when it was over. I'm surprised I remembered any of it. I really did drink a lot…


	15. Alex Jumps Out of an Airplane

_**Alex Jumps Out Of An Airplane**_

_**Elaine: **_Alex had come back from him most recent ski trip with a story about his near death experience. To impress a woman, he went ski jumping with her. The woman thought that he'd gone before because when she had asked him something like 'isn't ski jumping the biggest thrill?' he answered 'yes'. He was saying how he had never felt so alive and that it made up for a lifetime of having no ambition. It was great seeing Alex like this, he was genuinely happy. He had ambition now. Though, when this all began, I didn't realize that his newfound zest for life would lead him to putting **his **life at risk. It was fine when he started playing the piano and singing in front of everybody at Mario's; I wish he could have stuck to things like that, but his next quest was boxing. It was bad enough that I was always worrying about Tony getting hurt while fighting, now I had to worry about Alex too? "Oh, I get it, you didn't kill yourself enough on the slopes so now you wanna do it in the ring." I said to him with displeasure in my voice.

He didn't kill himself enough in the ring either. Every day he did something even more dangerous. Just when we thought he couldn't get any more ridiculous, he comes in to Mario's with a thrill seeker magazine. He was actually depressed about not 'having laughed in the face of death'. "It caught my eye at the news stand." He said. I didn't bother to humor him. I wanted him to stop all of this craziness. "Aww… they're out of the latest copy of 'Death Wish'?" He didn't care that every time he 'faced one of his fears' he could die. There's a fine line between facing fears and being stupid. I wasn't the only one who thought that. Louie came in with life insurance papers for Alex to sign. Though, unlike the rest of us, he was hoping that Alex would do something stupid enough to get himself killed so he could get the insurance money. I had had enough; Alex agreed to sign those papers as he decided that he was going to go sky diving. "Alright, Alex, this is going too far. Alright, you had a good ski vacation and you've been having a lot of fun lately but this is crazy!" I yelled. He didn't care; he was only looking at the thrilling part of it all. Louie said 'wonderful' and gave a pen to Alex and he started signing the papers. I tried to take the pen out of his hand but Louie pushed my back. That was it; Alex was going to go skydiving. I didn't give up trying to talk him out of it, but he didn't give up ignoring me either. He had finished the training for skydiving and was all ready to jump out of the plane. I tried one last time to get him to not go. "Alex, please. You're just caught up in the thrill that the ski jump gave you. You're not seeing how dangerous you're acting. You were lucky that you didn't get hurt when you were ski jumping. Why do you insist on reliving that thrill?" He put his hands on my shoulders, "Elaine, it isn't something I can explain. I **have **to do this."

"No you don't. Just because you haven't gotten hurt doing all of the idiotic things you've been doing lately, doesn't mean that you'll survive this. I'm begging you Alex, don't do this." It really didn't matter how much I pleaded, he was going and that was that. "It's sweet of you to worry about me, Elaine." He said. "But I can't chicken out now. I know I'm putting my life at risk, but I'm going to take that chance." I had been strong up until this point, but I knew if I said anything else that all of my emotions would come pouring out of me. I remained silent as he finished, "Besides, people jump out of planes all the time, a lot of them survive." He kissed my cheek and started to leave, but then turned around. "But… before I go, there's one more fear I want to face." He took a deep breath and looked me straight in the eye. "If I make it out of this, would… would you like to go to dinner?" I was confused, "What?" I questioned in a timid voice. "You know, you and me, dinner… a date?" I took a step back, "Alex, what does this have to do with you skydiving and everything else?" He began to turn a bit red, "Well, asking you out on a date has been a fear of mine. You know, because we're friends. But I've sometimes wondered what it'd be like to be… you know, more than that. After I skydive I will have faced all my fears except this one. I'd hate for anything to happen to me before I faced **all **of my fears." I had been completely taken off guard. I wanted to say I'd go to dinner with him, but this was not the right time. What if, once this daredevil phase had passed, he regretted asking me? "Alex… I can't go to dinner with you. Not with everything that's been going on with you lately." I had clearly hurt and embarrassed him. "Oh… I didn't realize how mad you were." I walked closer to him and took his hand. "No, no. That's not why. I'm not mad at you: I'm worried about you. Alex, you've been doing some really impulsive and crazy things. How do I know that this isn't just part of what you've been going through? What would happen if you ended up regretting asking me? That's a pretty hard thing to undo." He finally heard me, even if it wasn't about his thrill spree. "You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking."

_Where's that attitude about skydiving? _"You don't need to be sorry. I just don't want to trap either of us into anything by saying yes. We have a great friendship, let's just leave it at that for now, okay?" He nodded, "Okay… but can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Can we just forget this entire conversation?" I managed a weak smiled and nodded in agreement. I hugged him and then he was on his way to jump out of a plane. To my relief he was fine. Also to my relief there was no awkwardness between him and me. I wouldn't be surprised if he really had forgotten about our conversation. I mean, he jumped out of an airplane; he was too busy talking about the biggest thrill of his life to remember what had been brought up earlier.

I did realize something that day though, the only times the question of Alex and I being more than friends seem to come up when one of us is in a bad frame of mind. Maybe that tells us that we were only meant to be friends. Oddly enough, after the way I'd been finding myself feeling about him throughout that year, I was alright with it.


	16. Fathers of the Bride

_**Fathers of the Bride**_

_**Alex: **_I found out, the hard way, that my daughter, Cathy was getting married. I didn't receive an invitation; I didn't get a phone call- I found out because Louie told me. He had seen it in the paper and made a big, dramatic ordeal of it. I tried not to show it, but it bothered me. No, I hadn't been close to her. I'd only seen her once a couple years before. We had exchanged a few letters and phone calls from time to time but that was it. I shouldn't have been shocked, but she was still my one and only child. I was at a loss as of what to do. Something just didn't seem right. _Why wouldn't Cathy want me there? She said in her letters how great it was reconnecting. She had to have known that I read the newspaper… I hope. _I was glad to have the support of my friends. "Alright," I said. "So she doesn't want me at the wedding. Big deal." Elaine walked over to me, "Oh now, don't assume she doesn't want you." She tried to reassure. "I mean, it could've been some foul up in the mail." I rolled my eyes, "Oh please, Elaine." I appreciated what she was trying to do, but I just didn't believe it'; as much as I wanted too. "Rio de Janeiro to here- do you know how far that is?" Jim then answered with the exact distance, "Six thousand, eight hundred and forty two miles." We all just looked at Jim for a moment, and then Elaine went on. "Well… do you know what kind of mail system they must have?" Once again Jim answered, "The Brazilian mail system is government run with an annual budget of twenty seven million, four hundred eight five thousand pesetas." Elaine then questioned him in complete astonishment, "How do know these things?"

"You mean I'm right? I wasn't even sure if pesetas was the right money."

Elaine just put her hands on her head and continued, "Look, before you get upset, why don't you just get on the phone and call her?" I gasped, "Call her?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Call Brazil? Do you know how much it costs to call Brazil?" Realizing that I had just asked another Brazil related question, I turned to Jim and waited for an answer. "You just went to the well once too often."

"Alex, please call her." She persisted, "Call her." she repeated once more. I gave in, "Alright, alright, alright. You're probably right, you're probably right. I'll call her tonight." Knowing that that meant I probably wasn't going to call her, Elaine argued, "No, no, no! Not tonight, call her right now." I turned back around to her, "What are you talking about? I-" Now Bobby chimed in, "Call her, Alex. Go ahead. Go on." There was no use in arguing back. "Alright, I'll call her now."

The call did not go well. I found out that Phyllis, my ex-wife, was the one who didn't want me at the wedding. I was raging mad and screamed into the phone, "Now you just listen to me! You tell the mother of that bride- I am not yelling. I am not yelling! You just tell Mrs. Consuelos- I am not! I am not! You tell Mrs. Consuelos that she better have those invitations there because I'm showing up! You hear me?" I angrily hung up the phone and walked away. Elaine followed me while saying, "I think you're absolutely right in demanding to go to the wedding." She agreed. "And if you're gonna take somebody it better be me."

"You? Why?" I asked, still recovering from the phone call.

_**Elaine: **_"Because you need me and I want to be there."

_There is no way he can go to that wedding alone. What if he explodes on someone there? It makes __**sense **__for me to be there, I know him better than anyone else here. I'll know how to cool him down. Besides, it'd be fun to meet his daughter. _

Out seats at the wedding were all the way in the back; it was hard to see anything. The tricky part was getting into the reception, but I had that under control. Flirting, despite Alex's objections, with the man at the door went a long way. Of course Alex teased me about it for the rest of the night. Once we were in we looked around for Cathy, but there was still something that was puzzling him. "I can't figure it out. I don't know why Phyllis is doing this to me. I mean, it's not like her. There's something up here. I mean, not barring me form the wedding, not avoiding me. She lives for confrontations." I nodded, "Yeah, I think it's terrible and you know, maybe we should talk about it, but you have always been so touchy about the ex-wife thing-" I was interrupted by Alex saying to the man passing out food, "She'll get around to you later, don't worry about it." I gave him a look and then repeated and continued, "You have always been so touchy about the ex-wife thing that I just naturally assumed your marriage broke up for the obvious reasons." That got his attention. "What do you mean obvious reasons?" I answered honestly, "Well… that you were a heel who couldn't commit to wife or child?"

"Humph!" he rolled his eyes. "No Elaine, she walked out on **me**. Some nonsense about being a failure. Of course, that was before they accepted my application at the cab academy." He joked and clinked his glass against mine.

_**Alex: **_And then I found out why Phyllis didn't want me at the wedding. She had put on a ton of weight. I almost didn't recognize her. I turned around so she wouldn't see me. Then I heard someone yell, "Alex!" I turned around to see who it was. To my delight it was Cathy. I ran over to hug her and told her how beautiful she looked. "I finally found you!" she squealed. I turned to Elaine, "Finally, a real welcome." Cathy looked shocked, "What do you mean? I have been looking all over for you. I was afraid you didn't make it."

"Are you kidding? A team of wild ex-wives couldn't keep me away." I then started, "You look-" and then remembered that I had yet to introduce Elaine to Cathy and vice versa. "Oh, excuse me. This is Elaine."

"Nardo." She added as she shook Cathy's hand. "Oh gosh, it's such a pleasure to meet you. You look so beautiful!"

"And without makeup." I added. Elaine went on, "I couldn't tell from where we were sitting but the detail on the dress-" Cathy interrupted. "Oh, where were you sitting?"

_**Elaine: **__Oops. _I tried to correct myself, "Oh, uh, well… we had good seats, they were just… high." At the same time as I said 'high' Alex said, "Way back." And then at the same time we assured, "But fine!" Cathy (who seemed like such a sweetheart, but that's no surprise seeing as she's Alex's daughter) replied, "You were supposed to be seated on the aisle in the third row. And I wanted you to be in the reception line with us. Didn't you get the note with my invitation?" Alex answered, "No, no, I'm afraid I didn't. No."

"Oh, I don't understand how a mistake like this could happen." Alex attempted to brush off, "Well, what's the difference?" Cathy took his hand and said that she wanted him to meet somebody. Alex signaled for me to follow. I could see he was nervous. He had a right to be. Cathy introduced him to her stepfather. And then came time to meet (well for me anyways) his ex-wife. It was very awkward for me and I'm sure even ten times more so for Alex. Before I met her, Alex and she were mumbling things to one another. I mingled with some other people. When I heard her make a comment about Alex's job I butted in. I pulled him out of the way and shook Phyllis' hand. "Hello, I'm Elaine Nardo. This is a beautiful wedding. You must be so happy." She was still shaking my hand as she said, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Yes… I said that I'm Elaine Nardo."

"Yes?"

"And this is a beautiful wedding." I repeated. We shook hands so much that her purse ended up on my arm. "Did you say you were with him?" she asked. "Uh, no, actually, I didn't, but yes, I am with Alex." I then put her purse back on her arm with one big shake of her hand and then let go. "Oh." She said in shock. "He and I work together at the garage." _Maybe that will stop her little comments. _"Oh you mean you're a cab driver?" I answered, "Yes, well, I also work in an art gallery but yes, I am a cab driver."

"Oh of course, there **must **be female cab drivers. I mean, where else would all the little cab drivers come from?" She laughed at her own joke. I faked a laugh, turned to Alex, and mumbled to him, "It wasn't your fault."

_**Alex: **_After Elaine walked away, I demanded that Phyllis tell me why I wasn't invited. "I didn't want you here." She answered. I was mad so I made a comment about her weight, not realizing how sensitive she was about it. Cathy told me after it was too late not to say anything about it. She wondered what was suddenly wrong with her mother and wondered if I had said anything. But she then realized it was a crazy thought. I didn't want her finding out that I **had **indeed said something.

As Elaine and I were dancing I talked to her about it. "Why do I feel terrible?" I asked and went on. "I was shut out of my daughter's wedding, shut out of the reception; my profession has been ridiculed to an extent approaching… truth… So why do I feel guilty?" Elaine answered as we continued to dance, "Because you hurt a woman you once loved on the most important night of her life?"

"No, that's not it."

Stopping us from dancing, she again answered, "Because your daughter will sense her mother's hurt and it'll spoil the one evening that's supposed to be perfect." _She got it. _"That's the one… I think I better go over there." I started to walk away but then turned back, "That's a very strange thing you have a talent for, Elaine, you know that?"

Long story short, I worked things out with Phyllis and the rest of the reception was a huge success. I was nervous about crashing the wedding, but I'm glad I ended up going. I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.


	17. The Call of the Mild

_**The Call of the Mild**_

_**Elaine: **_Bobby, Tony, Jim, and Alex all decided to spend a week up in the mountains. Bobby had shot a commercial there and he wanted to go back, inviting the others along. They didn't want a cabin with any electricity, phone- no convinces. _They're crazy. _None of them had had any experience in the wilderness. I was scared for them. As usual, I tried talking them out of their idiotic plan. As usual, they didn't listen.

I got really worried when their week had passed and there was no sign of them. Alex had promised to call as soon as he was able. He couldn't have just forgotten. I knew something bad had happened. I wanted to call whoever had rented them their cabin, but of course, they didn't leave me a number. _They died. They froze to death. They were eaten by wild animals. They burnt their cabin to the ground. They died some stupid, idiotic death and there's nothing I can do about it. _I was relieved when Alex finally called the garage. I was overjoyed when I heard his voice. He told me everything that had happened.

_**Alex: **_"I'll tell ya Elaine, we should have listened to you in the first place." It pained me to admit that to her. Everything that could have gone wrong that week did. I told her all about how something ate our food, how I could only catch the tiniest fish and that those fish and some berries that Jim had found were are only source of food. I told how Tony couldn't find any animals while he was hunting and how we were snowed in after a gigantic blizzard and how the cabin owner couldn't get to us. I then told her that the only reason we made it out alive was because a turkey had finally found us (I included how I was forced to shoot it because Tony could harm 'a little birdy') "I knew it." She said in her usual 'I told you so' voice. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I **told **you guys this." _Yeah, yeah. You were right. _She really did enjoy the story; more so than I would have thought. Usually at this point she'd start lecturing about how from this day forward I should listen to her and not do stupid things. Instead she was laughing and kept saying how much she was loving the story. That was until I heard her scream and yell and sounded like she attacked Louie. I assumed he did something to her, next thing I heard was Louie on the phone saying, "Uh… hey… Reiger… How ya doin' there?" I asked, "Louie, what just happened with Elaine? She sounded beyond angry." He then answered, "Oh, uh Elaine? Uh, yeah she did seem a little upset. What the hell did you say to her?" I just rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see it, and hung up. I knew I'd find out what happened sooner or later. Besides, after a week with no plumbing, no bed, and basically no food; all I wanted to do was shower, eat, and sleep for a few days.


	18. Elaine's Old Friend

_**Elaine's Old Friend**_

_**Elaine: **_One night I picked up my old high school rival, Mary Parker, in my cab. My initial reaction was a scream of excitement (as if I had reverted back to the teenager I was the last time I had seen her), but then I heard how successful her life was, and there I was driving her in my cab. I tried to make my life seem interesting, but compared to hers that was nearly impossible. She started feeling sorry for me and there was no way I was going to let that happen. That's when the lies started. "You see, I have a steady guy too." I started. "Oh great! What's his name?" she asked. "Uh…" I looked around hoping something would jump out at me. "It's uh… billboard!" I then corrected, "Bill Board." Mary then told me to tell her about him. "Uh, he's a professor at Columbia."

"Oh?" she responded. "Must be brilliant." I boastfully continued, "He is, and not at all stuffy. He, uh, he's charming and witty, and, uh, he's also the most romantic man in the world." And then, things got even worse. Mary invited me and Bill to dinner. I tried to get out of it.

The next day at the garage I was not at all in a good mood. The guys greeted me but I walked passed them saying, "Don't talk to me, I hate everything today. I mean, look at me, I'm a mess!" I decided to walk over to them. "You know, I was so depressed when I woke up this morning, that I barely made it in here. I mean, I didn't feel like doing **anything**. I swear to God, I didn't even floss." They all just mocked my last statement with a fake gasp and I walked away. Then they realized that I was serious and asked what was wrong. I sighed, "Oh, I don't know… it all started last night when I picked up Mary Parker in my cab." Bobby asked, confused, "Who's Mary Parker?" Jim then questioned, "Does she have, uh… frizzy blonde hair, granny glasses, and smoke French cigarettes?"

"No." I answered as I grabbed my coffee from the machine. "Well, if you run into somebody like that I'd like to meet her." I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile. I went on about Mary. "Mary Parker is this girl I went to high school with, you know, that I haven't seen for a long time. Well, she's beautiful, she's rich, she's successful, and she's dating this great guy. So here we were sitting in my cab, talking about our lives and she has all this and the most exciting thing that'd happened to me is I bought this new cushion that keeps me from sticking to the seat."

"Hey, you know Elaine, when you're a cab driver you know it's a little natural to occasionally run into someone who's better off than you are." Alex reminded. "People you run over are better off than you." Bobby added. I finished, "See you don't understand." I began walking away but Alex turned to me, "What don't we under- what are you talking about, Elaine?" I continued my rant, "See, this isn't just somebody. I mean, this Mary and I were real competitors in high school." Jim then interrupted from across the room, asking where he could get one of those seat cushions I had mentioned. I just wanted to finish my story, so I said with annoyance in my voice, "I'll get you one, okay?" He thanked me and I went on, "Anyway… seeing Mary again just reminded me that I… that I once expected more from myself, you know? See… I never told you guys this before, but, in the yearbook, I was voted 'Most Likely to Succeed'." Bobby and Tony then got to sharing their high school accomplishments; and Jim was still fixated on the seat cushion. Finally realizing that the guys weren't going to be much help to me, I walked over to the bench. Alex followed me as he said, "Hey, Elaine, Elaine. Come on Elaine." He grabbed my shoulders and turned me around. "Look at me, look at me, look at me. Now, come on… cheer up, huh?" Before he could say anything else, Latka made a long speech about how the only thing you need in life is friends—by the end he realized that he was wrong, you needed a lot more. Once he was (finally) done, Alex went back to trying to make me feel better. "Elaine, Elaine…" he sat down next to me. I had more to say. "See, I just can't figure this out. I mean, it doesn't add up. Why should all this great stuff happen to Mary Parker? I mean, I'm a nice person, I work hard. Where's my reward?" I complained. "Elaine, Elaine, you're not going to let this get you down like this are ya?" He questioned sympathetically. "Oh, I'm trying not to Alex, but… well… the worst part of it is that Mary felt sorry for me. Oh, she tried to deny it, but, uh, I know she did. Well, I couldn't stand for that, so uh… I started lying." Shocked, Alex repeated me, "Lying? What'd you lie about?" I nodded and answered, "Well I couldn't lie about my job, so uh… I lied about having this great steady guy. She kept pressuring me to get together so she could meet him, but I really, really had to squirm to get out of it. Alex, I don't believe it. I'm ashamed of my own life." Just then the phone rang for me; it was Mary. _Of course_. I perked myself up as I took the phone. "Hi! …Yeah. Uh, it was great seeing you last night, too Mar." She was trying to get Bill and I to go to dinner. I couldn't lie anymore; I had to confess that I made Bill up (I'm sure **that **would have been a shocker). Just as I started saying: 'Uh… Mary… I have a little confession to make…" Alex came up from behind me and took the phone out of my hand. "Hello, Mary? Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt. I'd just like to say hello. Hello… Oh, who am I? I'm Elaine's guy." I gasped. I couldn't believe he just told her that. I wanted to stop him but he shoved a jelly donut in my mouth. Alex continued to talk to Mary, "What do you say? You want to get together? How about Saturday night? Fine. Great. It will be a pleasure. Okay, can't wait for it. Bye." He hung up the phone and said, "Hmm?" which I knew meant 'there, all better?'. "Alex, I appreciate what you're trying to do…" I put the donut back in his hand, "But you don't know what you got yourself into."

_**Alex: **_What was I going to do, watch her be so miserable about her life? I **had **to help her. One dinner, what could possibly go wrong?

I was feeling confident that we could pull this act off- until she told me what Mary thought my name was. "**Bill Board**?" I questioned. _She could have come up with something better than that_. "Hey, you came this close to being Karmen Ghia." She laughed. "Look, the important thing is that we just relax and have a good time, right? And that we're not pitied." I knew we'd get nowhere with that attitude. "Elaine," I said bluntly. "Damn it, I don't want to hear any more talk like that. Now no one's going to pity you tonight. You told your friend Mary that you had a guy that was crazy about you? You're going to have a guy who's crazy about you—who will worship the ground you walk on." She giggled and smiled, "Okay… May I have a glass of water?"

"What's the matter, your arms broken?" I joked. Seeing that she didn't find it very funny I laughed and corrected (as I poured her a glass of water), "Alright, alright, alright." As I poured, Mary and her boyfriend walked in. Let the show begin.

It was kind of difficult at first; I didn't think they were buying it. But when they asked how we met, they completely fell for it. "A cab driver and a college professor… How did you two meet?" Michael, Mary's boyfriend, inquired. Elaine and I were both unprepared for the question. "You know, actually, it's a very interesting story." I thought on my feet. "I was browsing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art one day and I came upon the most exquisite work of art I've ever seen in my life. I mean, I couldn't take my eyes off her. I just stood there- stunned. By the time I was able to speak it was too late; she vanished. So, I went home and tried to forget her… but I just couldn't get her out of my mind. So I found myself the next Saturday afternoon right back there in the museum. I started spending all of my spare time in museums all over the city; just in the one chance in a million that I'd get to see her again." I wasn't quite sure where this story had come from, but I wasn't going to stop and question it now. Mary asked, "How long did this go on?" I was again caught off guard; I guess I was getting very caught up in the character that I was starting to get a bit lost in Elaine's eyes. "What?" She repeated, "How long did this go on?" I answered, "Oh, two, three years." _Perhaps that was a little much… _"Three years?" Michael gasped. I tried to correct myself. "Yeah- time had lost all meaning." I went on before Michael or Mary could say anything else. "And then, one day; I remember it was a Thursday- I had spent the entire day at the museum… and I decided, 'Oh well, that's it. It had been a dream. I imagined the whole thing. So I went out to the street; I remember it was raining. I hailed a cab, and guess who was driving that cab?" My story must have completely swept Elaine off her feet. It was almost as if she had forgotten about everyone else around when she blurted out, "Me?!" I nodded as Michael said in complete astonishment, "That's incredible." To conclude my ridiculous story I said, "So I finally got the opportunity to say what I'd been waiting to say for three years: that I couldn't live without her."

_**Elaine: **_I'm sure I was just as in awe as Mary had been when I said as he kissed my hand, "Oh, that's lovely." _Where did all this come from? No one can just come up with something that romantic on the spot. Unless… maybe he rehearsed it? _Either way, the look in his eyes was unmistakable. Our chemistry had to have been what Mary and Michael were buying because that story was way too romantic to be real. I knew there had been something between Alex and I, but I never expected that it was this much. I couldn't take my eyes off him. He had my full attention. I think he asked where Mary and Michael met, I wasn't listening. I heard the sound of their voices as Alex continued to kiss and caress my hand. The next thing I knew, Alex was saying. "When Elaine and I met, I had become the perfectly happy man; and every day, she makes me more certain of that factor."

I was absolutely speechless. I couldn't help but wonder if he really meant the things he was saying. Part of me hoped he did. I loved how he kept kissing and holding my hand; even though it made it difficult to eat.

Just when I thought Alex… or Bill—couldn't get any sweeter, he did. Later on during dinner, Mary asked 'Bill' how he got along with my children. Alex ardently answered, "Oh I love her children. I love them." he began, "And Elaine is a wonderful mother." Michael, who had had just about enough of me and 'Bill's' gushy romance just replied, "Surprise, surprise." Alex went on, "You know, as a matter of fact, one of my favorite children stories is about Elaine's son, Jason." He turned to me, "Do you mind darling?" It took me a second to answer because I was wondering what he had up his sleeve this time. "Uh, no, not at all." Alex began telling the story. "Elaine had told Jason that God answers all your prayers. So one night, before he went to bed, Jason prayed to God and asked for a train set. Well, the next day he came to Elaine and he said he prayed for a train set and didn't get one; and Elaine was very worried. And she said, 'I'm sorry, Jason, that God didn't answer your prayers.' And Jason said, 'Oh, but he did answer my prayers, Mommy! He just said no.'" I couldn't believe it, "That was two or three years ago!" I gasped. "I know darling." He smiled. "I didn't remember that story, how did you remember it?" I asked, almost forgetting that he wasn't being Alex. He simply answered, "I remember everything." That was it. I knew right then and there that this was no longer an act. He wouldn't have intentionally remembered that story knowing that he was going to use it in this dinner. He remembered because he cared.

_**Alex: **_The evening was almost over, but there was one more thing I wanted to do. You know, to complete the act. Music began to play, "Oh listen," I exclaimed. "They're playing our song." It was almost perfect. "May I have this dance?" I asked, beginning to slide out of the booth. Elaine smiled, "Of course."

"Would you excuse us?" I said as I stood up. I then took Elaine's hand and we walked over to the dance floor. I could sense that Mary and Michael were watching us, so after a moment of thought, I looked at Elaine before leaning in to kiss her; hoping that it was okay. Luckily it was, and she kissed back. We held each other close as we finished our dance. It was the perfect way to end our little performance.

_**Elaine: **_After dinner, Alex drove me home. During the car ride, I replayed dinner in my head over and over again. I was just in complete wonderment over everything that took place. I wanted to tell Alex my thoughts about the evening being more than an act, but was nervous too. I finally did as he walked me to my apartment building hallway. He was carrying on about how great we were and what a success dinner was. "Okay Alex…" I finally got myself to begin. "What?" He asked. "Come on."

"What do you mean 'come on'? What?" I couldn't help but grin. "Come on, you can admit that it was a little more than an act." He rapidly, perhaps nervously, responded, "What're talking about? I don't know what you're talking about. What'cha talking about." I laughed before growing serious. "You're not that good an actor."

"What?" he questiond. I assured him, "Alex, it's okay. You can confess that you were a little… moved." I wasn't really sure how else to put it. Alex just laughed until he was able to say to me, "Elaine, I hate to disillusion you but all that drivel I did was for your sake and your sake only." _Drivel?! _"Drivel?!" I laughed, attempting to hide my frustration. "Oh Alex, be honest!"

"What?!"

"Come on! I saw that look on your face. I **know** that that look means… you were excited." He didn't like that statement. "Oh get out! You're crazy!" he argued. "You were." I persisted. "I was not!" **he **persisted. I was not going to give up. "Alex, you were!" I insisted, beginning to get annoyed. "Come on, how can you stand there and pretend you didn't feel anything? How can- how can you lie like that?" I was still speaking when Alex interrogated, "What are you talking about?" but ignored him. "You were crazy about me. I'm the most exquisite work of art you've ever seen in your life!" I shouted. Alex continued to argue, "Oh that? No, I say that to anybody!" Now I yelled, "Oh, Alex come on! I have been out with enough men to know that no man can get me… excited like that if he's just acting!" I then argued, "When we were kissing… you **weren't **turned on?"

"I was playing a part!" he insisted. I just responded by rolling my eyes. "Alright here, look I'll show you." He said as he grabbed my shoulders. "Here, I'll do it again." After he gently kissed me, he looked at me straight in the eye and shrugged. "See? Nothing." I looked at him, unconvinced. "Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Without saying another word, I clutched his face and kissed him. I kissed him as hard as I could. I have to admit, I'd wanted to do that for a while. Once we pulled apart (and after he came back into reality) he **still** insisted that he felt nothing and that our act had indeed been an act. I had a hard time believing that considering his voice was now about five octaves higher than usual. I gave up. It was only going to end up leading to more heartache for me. That still didn't stop me from smiling to myself when I wasn't facing him.

_**Alex: **_"Nothing. It was nothing." I said to myself as I left Elaine's building. Who was I kidding? There **was **something between her and I. I couldn't tell her that though. It'd ruin our friendship. _Tonight was your night with Elaine; don't ruin it by trying to make it bigger than it should be. You got to say to her things you've only dreamed of saying without messing up your wonderful friendship with her. _I kept having to tell myself. I knew one thing was for sure though… no more pretending to be Elaine's boyfriend.

_**Elaine: **_Despite Alex's denial about our obvious attraction, the evening was really nice. I got to live out my little fantasy of Alex and I being a couple. Yeah, it would have been nice if he could have admitted to me how he was feeling. I mean, I wasn't planning on trapping him into anything by trying to get him to say something. But who knows? Given time we could have made our spark into something more. Oh well, it's in the past now.


	19. Bobby's Roommate

_**Bobby's Roommate**_

_**Elaine: **_My apartment was being turned in to a co-op. I couldn't afford it so I had to find a new place to live. I convinced my ex-husband to take Jennifer and Jason until I found a place. It would be easier on then. I told the guys what had happened and they jumped in and started to help me go through the newspapers to see if there was anything available. Oh, there were plenty of things available, just nothing I could afford. "Hey, come on Elaine, if worse comes to worst you'll sleep on my couch for a couple of nights." I declined, saying that his couch was uncomfortable (which it was), but I had other reasons. Tony also offered but I really did want to put either of them out (putting aside recent events between me and Alex). Soon after, Bobby came in with news that he had gotten an acting job. It was a on the road so that meant I could stay at his place while I looked for a new apartment. It worked out wonderfully- until Bobby was fired and came back three weeks early. I had nowhere else to go so he said that I was welcome to stay with him. I accepted because I had already been promised the four weeks. It wasn't my fault he got fired for sleeping with the director's daughter. Alex and Tony's reaction appalled me. They jumped to the conclusion that Bobby was going to try something on me (and I wouldn't be surprised if they thought **I **was going to try something on **him**). They had no need to worry, I'd been going out with a guy, Steve, lately and things were going great.

Until he dumped me that is.

Needless to say, I was really down.

_**Alex: **_I didn't trust Bobby one bit. And when Elaine's boyfriend, Steve, dumped her, I **really **didn't trust him. Bobby's a good guy but he loses his good sense around women. I warned Bobby that she might make a move on him. I wasn't sure if she would or wouldn't. It kind of went both ways. Either way, this set up had danger written all over it. Bobby assured me that he'd be on the lookout. At about three in the morning, I got a call from Bobby. He said to me in a panic, "Hey Alex, it's Bobby. She's all over me!" he then quickly hung up. I ran to his place as fast as I could; so fast that when I got there I ended up breaking the lock on the door.

_**Elaine: **_"It's three o'clock in the morning Alex… what are you doing here?" I asked in disbelief about what I had just witnessed. "I don't know… I was just out taking a walk." He answered. I noticed that he wasn't wearing any shoes. "Barefoot?" He looked at his feet and stammered, "Yeah. I, uh… I like the feeling of snow in my toes." He then asked Bobby, "Hey Bob, you don't happen to have anything for frostbite in your medicine chest, do you?"

"I'll get you some socks." Bobby responded and went into the other room. Meanwhile, I was still glaring at Alex. "Okay Alex, you have one chance to explain this to me."

"Huh? No, Elaine, I was, uh, I just had trouble sleeping so I thought I'd take a little walk. And you guys are only 26 block away, so… I lost my slippers in a snow bank, see?" Alex tried to explain. Bobby came back with the socks. "Here you go." I started putting things together. Before Alex broke in, I had caught Bobby on the phone. Then he was saying that he thought I was coming on to him. We had just worked it out when Alex made a 'smashing' entrance. "Bobby?" I stood up. "That telephone call a few minutes ago, that was to Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, right?" Alex defended, "Elaine, Elaine, we were very worried about you. I mean, you're in a very vulnerable frame of mind."

"That's right, Elaine." Bobby added. I was not at all pleased with their concern. "So you thought you'd save me from myself, is that it? Well Bobby, you've succeeded in making fools out of all three of us. You know something? I really resent the implication that I'd lose control of myself just because I'm an emotional female at a weak moment and you're a guy."

"A great-looking guy." Bobby felt the need to add. Alex hit him with the socks and I went on. "Women always lose control—is that it? But men are always on top of things. Well Bobby, I hate you for this tonight. And Alex, I really resent you!" I yelled. "You know, I might have expected this kind of attitude from Bobby, but I thought you had a little more class!" Bobby yelled, "Yeah Alex!" Alex, feeling victimized, asked, "What?!" I continued my tirade, "What is it Alex, a rule with you? You only get involved in other people's lives if you can make a complete ass of yourself?!"

"Well, I wouldn't call it a rule… It's just the way it happens to turn out." I angrily sighed and walked to the other side of the room. I was officially drained. A break up and all of this in one night. I sat down at the table and let out a deep sigh. Alex softened and stood up. "Oh… Listen, I uh… I think I'd better go." I watched him as he walked to the door and saw his stocking feet. "Alex… you can't go out like that again. You might as well just stay here." He very quietly said 'okay' and sat down at the table with me, followed by Bobby. I got two glasses and poured them each some wine. Alex apologized (I suppose that's the right way to put it), "Look, Elaine, the only reason we were this stupid was because we really care about you."

"Then you two must care a lot." I was still very annoyed with them, but I guess, putting everything aside, it was sweet. At least I knew of two men who cared about me; because at the rate I was going, they were the only two that ever would.


	20. Vienna Waits

_**Vienna Waits**_

_**Elaine: **_My ex-husband showed up out of the blue and took Jennifer and Jason for four weeks. Since there wasn't anything big going on at the gallery around then, I decided to be spontaneous and decided to spend the four weeks in Europe. I'd always wanted to go but never had the time or money. It was off season so the prices would be lower, and I didn't have to stay in five star hotels. I was so excited. I went into the garage telling everyone my exciting news. They were excited for me. I then thought to invite Alex. He'd always wanted to go to Europe, why not go now? "Why don't you come with me?" I asked. "Me? No, I can't do that." He answered politely. I went on, "Yes!" but was soon interrupted by Louie saying that **he'd **go with me. He just made a suggestive joke, well knowing that I'd never agree to it. When he went back to the cage I kept working on convincing Alex to join me. "Come on, Alex, I am serious about this." I said with much enthusiasm, "I know you've always wanted to go to Europe, so why not now? Come on, aren't you the one who's always saying how great it is that we can just pick up and go when we want too?"

"Elaine, forget about it. I just can't do it. Never mind why, don't ask me please. Just leave me alone." He walked away. I was shocked, not that he said it necessarily angrily, but I felt that I deserved an explanation. I followed him, "Alex, come on now, this is me you're talking too. Why don't you just tell me the reason?" He just chuckled, "Okay, but you **know **the reason." I just laughed and flung my airs up, "No I don't!"

"Elaine…" he said seriously, "it has been our history that there has been a certain attraction between you and me here." Then he added, "Especially you for me." I grinned as I rolled my eyes, "You're being silly." He was. Yeah, of course I knew that we've had an attraction, but it had been several months since the last time it came up. I'd moved on, he'd moved on, there was nothing to be worried about. He then changed it to that if he was to go to Europe, he'd want to be free to do what he wished with whom he wished. So did I; I had no problem with that. "Alex, we will have the security of a friend with us. That's why it will always be wonderful. It will be open, but protective. Adventuresome, but familiar. **The perfect vacation**." Eventually he gave in. Off to Europe!

_**Alex: **_I was still pretty worried about me and Elaine going away to Europe together. No, I hadn't thought of her as more than a friend in months; but we were going to supposedly the most romantic continent in the world. And for four weeks… there was no telling what might happen. It wasn't even that I didn't trust Elaine, I didn't trust myself. Let's face it; I've tried denying my feelings for her; that could only go on for so long. _Stop worrying about it. If I focus on not letting anything happen between me and Elaine, that's what will happen. I just have to keep myself busy with other woman. Nothing to it._

So I thought.

My bad luck started on the plane. I had spotted a very attractive woman who was sitting just a few rows back. I was hesitant about approaching her because I was talking with Elaine. Elaine noticed me looking at this woman and told me to go talk to her. "I'm not gonna walk over and talk to her while I'm sitting here talking to you." I said. She then told me that this was what our pact was about. Being able to do whatever we wanted and not feeling obligated to the other. So I went over to this woman, "Get lost." She said immediately. Then she sprayed breath spray into my eyes. When I got back to my seat I found some young guy with a guitar sitting in my seat. Elaine introduced us but I wasn't interested; especially since he kept calling me sir and 'Mr. Reiger'. I hated that, it was like he was intentionally pointing out to me that I was the oldest guy on the plane.

Apparently he (Todd) had invited us to jog to Germany. Again, I had no interest. Besides, I didn't think given my 'age' I'd be able to manage. Seeing as I was 'sir'. I just wanted my seat back. My eyes were still stinging. Well I didn't get my seat back, he started playing his guitar and he and Elaine started singing a Billy Joel song. By the end I twisted his strings and they snapped. Clearly, I was off to a rough start.

We reached London and Elaine and I were already disagreeing on things; like the bus fare. I wanted to walk to save money. It wasn't so far, and we'd just been sitting on a plane for seven hours, stretching our legs wouldn't hurt. But Elaine insisted on taking a bus. "Alex, we're in Europe!" she chose as her excuse. Being in Europe didn't make me any richer. Things started getting better as Elaine and I wrote postcards in a pub near our hotel. It was a lot of fun. We'd try to make them as silly as possible. There was one of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh standing in front of Buckingham Palace, so I made the caption, "A nice couple we met at the hotel." Elaine then added to it by drawing arrows pointing to our 'room'. It really was a great time. Elaine suggested that we meet every day for postcard writing at around five thirty. That way we'd be guaranteed some time together. I said it shouldn't be a strict agreement, I didn't want to tie myself- uh, both of us down. She said to make it if I could. I could live with that. Soon her date came to pick her up; apparently she had filled him in on my comment about expecting Europe to be filled with 'steamy, sultry women'. Before she left she asked if I had anything to do. I didn't really want to admit that I hadn't found a date yet, but the night was still young. She offered for me to go with her and her date. I joked and pretended to say yes, but I assured her I'd be fine. I'll admit it was hard watching her leave. There weren't really any other woman around. I decided to hang out at the pub for a while to see if anyone came in. Of course, no one did. _Well, it's only the first night. I'm sure things will get better._

Well… they didn't. Everywhere we went I struck out. I didn't understand it. Wasn't this Europe? Elaine on the other hand had a date every night. How did she do it? Well I knew; she was a woman. It was easy for her. She was absolutely beautiful and men pretty much flocked her. All the women here seemed to go for the young men. Well I was young, right? Okay, I'm not considered young anymore… but does age make me so repulsive?

Finally it happened, in Greece it finally happened. I finally got a date. A gorgeous model from Paris named Desiree. But with my luck, I was sure not to be too hopeful that she'd show up at the fishermen's tavern where I told her to meet me. That in itself was enough to assume she wouldn't show up. With that I was still feeling down as Elaine and I were writing our postcards. Also the fact that she was late, brought her date, and spent most of the time dancing with him was contributing to it all. Another thing that didn't help was how 'in your face' this guy was. Oh, he was nice- very nice; just, 'in your face'. And did I mention the place reeked of fish? Back to her date, Oumas…he wasn't someone I'd expect to see Elaine with. "Elaine, I like Oumas but he isn't really your type…" She just laughed and started speaking with a Greek accent and tousled my hair as Oumas had. "Oh Alexo, to us Greeks there is no type, only the sea and love, and love of the sea." I just chucked along with her (and fixed my hair). She then said that after one last postcard she had to go. I didn't try to hide my disappointment. This was her idea in the first place. She then reminded me that I was the one who said that we only had to if we could.

_**Elaine: **_I didn't see what he was getting so upset about. We hadn't missed a day of postcard writing yet. Yeah, sure, I was late that day and brought a date; but I still showed up didn't I? I know Alex hadn't had the best of luck, but I was sure that his luck would soon change.

I had been right. He abruptly stood up and started acting funny. Outside of the tavern window there was a woman. Alex waved but the woman looked confused and started walking away. Alex chased after her and she walked in. I can't really explain it, but as soon as I saw her standing in the doorway, seeing how beautiful she was, a wave of jealousy ran through my body. I didn't know why; I'd been out with plenty of handsome men since we arrived in Europe. Not to mention I already had a date for the evening. But still, seeing Alex with this Desiree… _There's no reason to be jealous. My feelings for Alex are behind me. _I was still feeling jealous though, I was also shocked by the jealously once I realized what I was feeling. I got out of there as fast as I could and tried not to be obvious. After I greeted her I stammered, "Uh… I really must be going. Um, Oumas promised to dive into the Aegean and get me a sponge. Uh… I'll see you… later."

_**Alex: **_Just when I thought my luck had finally turned around, it went bad again. Desiree left because I couldn't afford to take her to some casino. Needless to say how hurt I was. I gave up. No woman in this entire continent wanted me. Again, it was easy for Elaine; a young, beautiful woman who didn't have to pay for any of her dates. Her dates paid for her. There was no wonder why by the end of the trip she had a pocket full of money and I was eating a plain broth for dinner.

Our last stop was Vienna. I was so glad that this trip was almost over. I couldn't remember a time I had been more miserable. All I wanted to do was go home. Elaine and I were meeting in some classy restaurant (her choice of course) for our final postcard writing session. She came in in this stunning white gown. She sat down and noticed that I had no money. She offered to lend me some money which I gladly accepted. I wasn't one who liked to borrow money from people, but I couldn't take any more of this trip. Food was obviously going to be my only pleasure on this trip, and that pleasure decreases as the money does.

"Where are you going?" I asked her, and she answered. "Why are you asking me this?" I rolled my eyes, "It's become my hobby."

"I'm going to a dinner party."

"Oh." My broth had arrived, thanked the waiter, and then complimented Elaine. "Well that's a lovely gown." She smiled, "Oh, thank you. It's an original."

"One of your dates buy it for you?" I asked assumingly. "No, he designed it for me." Once again I rolled my eyes. Elaine noticed, "Don't be bitter."

"This is not bitterness, this is admiration. The guy you met in France owned a vineyard, the guy in London was member of Parliament, and that aging Contessa in Italy who called you 'daughter'. And that monk who broke a thirty year vow of silence just to say 'wow'- in Spanish!"

"You haven't enjoyed Europe." She observed. "What makes you say a thing like that?" I questioned sarcastically. She admitted, "I got the idea that night in Barcelona when, uh, I heard you in the next room crying yourself to sleep." I was embarrassed that she had heard. I confessed to her how all I wanted was to meet that one woman who would make the greatest night of my life. She felt sorry for me and offered to cancel her plans so that we could do something together. I nervously answered, "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know Elaine… I mean if you and I went out together with the moon and the Danube and the schnitzel in the air and me being one of the most depressed tourists you'll ever find in this whole damn continent I don't know **what **might happen. I mean, before we left the United States I-I was afraid of that… now I don't even know why I'm afraid of that!" Elaine laughed a sympathetic laugh and I went on. "Oh Elaine, I'm just a broken man who's very grateful for the fact that you're even talking to me." I then started thanking her over and over again like a babbling idiot. "Aww" she smiled and I replied, "I was hoping you'd say just that." Then she looked down and noticed a postcard I had written for her. "Is this postcard addressed to me?" I tried taking it out of her hands but she got hold of it. "No, no, no come on Alex, let me see this." And then she read aloud, "Dear Elaine, the time we spent writing postcards **together** was the best part of my trip." She sighed, "I don't know what to say."

"Say 'aw'."

"Awwww." I took the postcard out of her hand as I said, "I know, I love it. But you weren't supposed to read this until we got back to New York and it wouldn't spoil our friendship." She agreed, "Oh right, yeah let's not spoil our friendship." I meekly said 'no' and took a deep breath. Her next words I will never forget, ever. "You know Alex, we've known each other for four years now…"

"Yeah."

"And we've seen each other depressed, neurotic, sad, angry, hostile, stupid, ugly… and yet, we've still remained friends." I couldn't help but grin. She continued, "Maybe our friendship is strong enough to survive one night of… love." _Did… did she just say what I think she said, or has this trip finally made me go crazy? _I was completely stunned. I don't know whether it was the frame of mind I was in, the way she had put it, or both, but I just looked at her (and she looking back with nervous, yet calm eyes) and asked, "You wanna go for a walk?" She briefly smiled and then grew serious as she answered, "I'd love too."

We walked around the city for a bit, enjoying every moment. I was sure this was a dream; the way she looked in the moonlight was the most beautiful I had even seen a woman look before. Everything that I'd been feeling about her since we had met was all rushing to me, and I think the same was happening to her. It felt so good not to hide it. It felt so good to hold her hand and put my arms around her. It felt so good to look into her eyes without worrying about what she was seeing in mine.

It wasn't until we kissed that I fully knew it all wasn't a dream. This was unlike the other times we had kissed; I don't even think I could put what I was feeling into words- not without sounding like a corny romance novel. But I will say this: it was almost magical. I don't think I'd ever had the same kind of chemistry with anyone. Maybe it was because I had never fallen- I mean, I'd never… I'd never kissed my best friend before. Well, I had kissed Elaine before but… my point is… when we kissed under that sky, it made up of for the entire trip. If my miserable time is what led us to this moment, it was worth it. It didn't even stop there, oh no, the night was still just beginning. I thought in order to have the most intense, passionate night I'd have to find a woman who didn't speak any English on some cobblestone road. Turns out I was wrong. I'll admit that when we woke up the next day, I wanted to say that our affair should continue, but we agreed one night and then once we were back home act like never happened. I supposed I could do that, but by the way we couldn't stop making a silly grin every time our eyes met on the trip home, I knew it was going to take some work.

I'll forever be grateful to her for that wonderful, **wonderful **night.

_**Elaine: **_That night Alex and I shared was easily the most romantic night I'd ever had with anyone. The way he held me, the way he ran his fingers through my hair, the way he caressed my cheek, the way he kissed me… absolutely everything about it was perfect. It was almost too good to be true; I even found myself questioning if it were all just a dream. Alex and I needed that night. Four years we'd known each other, we'd been through so much. We **were **both aware of our feelings for one another even through neither of us ever fully admitted it to maybe even ourselves. We couldn't have gotten away with it in New York. Someone would have somehow found out. New York was our home so going on as just friends after experiencing what we had in Europe would have been impossible. It was almost as if the universe had known that this night was coming. The moon was full, the stars we bright even for a city, the weather was calm and clear, it was cold, but not so cold that we were chilled to the bone. It was the kind of cold that makes you want to snuggle close to whomever you're with. I was half worried that when it came time for us to first kiss (that night) it'd be awkward, but it wasn't. We were looking out at the Danube when our eyes met. We both smiled knowingly and it was clear we were both letting our feelings for one another finally come out of hiding. Simultaneously, we slowly leaned into each other and kissed. It was a completely different kiss from any other the others. It was uninhibited and comfortable. Our chemistry and rhythm was incredible; almost a shame it was only for one night. There was, though, a wave of sadness when we woke up the next morning. It was over. That wonderful night was officially over (but that hadn't stopped us from kissing each other 'good morning' and cuddling before we got up). It took all I had not to suggest to Alex that we prolong our romance. I had a hunch that he wanted to suggest the same. But we both knew that it would eventually only lead to disaster. We had just spent the most romantic and passionate night of our lives together; we didn't want to spoil that **or **our friendship. _Our friendship… it's always getting in the way. But, because of our friendship I've gotten the chance to get to know him and lo- uh, respect him very much. He really is a wonderful man. I wonder if things would have been different if we'd met differently. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter; we met and became friends and there's no changing that. We were lucky enough to finally get a chance to express four years of built up feelings to each other; leaving us with a very, very sweet memory. _I know I've said this before, but we're friends; and that's all we were meant to be.

_I think for now the hardest part will be stopping myself from smiling every time we look at each other._


End file.
